White County’s fourth-quarter surge came up just short in a Union County 70-64 win Tuesday evening in Cleveland. The #10-ranked Panthers (8-2; 0-0 in 8-AA) used a varied attack, as 4 players scored in double figures.

The Warriors (3-9; 0-3 in 7-AAA) were down by only 3 at the half, and nearly erased a 14-point second-half deficit, getting with a few points of the lead in the closing seconds.

Nevertheless, Houston Henry and Jude Ellis combined for 21 second-half points in the win for Union. Cade Dockrey had an early triple for the 10-7 Panther lead, and Kaden Combs surpassed his career-high in scoring with 9 in the first quarter alone.

The Warriors remained within striking distance, as Noah Futch and seven other White County players got involved in the scoring. A 37-34 Union lead at the break ballooned to 56-42 by the end of the third, thanks to a Dockrey AND 1. However, Futch had opened the half with back-to-back buckets for a brief White County lead.

In the fourth, Futch got another shot to fall to get within 8 points of the lead, and a Dawson Oliver 3-point play made it 65-62 in the closing moments. Union County would convert at the line the rest of the way to clinch the win.

Henry had a game-high 17 points, and was followed by Combs’ 15 and 14 by Dockrey. Ellis scored 10, Jaxon Totherow 8, and 3 apiece for Hayden Hughes and Brayden Hogsed. For White County, Futch led with 14 points and was joined in double digits by John Phillips’ 12. David Boman and Oliver both had 9 apiece, Braxton Anderson had 7, 5 apiece for Zach McCoy and Tristan Orndorff, and 3 for Cohen Michaud.