Coach Sarah Black honoring the late Seara Burton. Photos: Bob Hansen

There have been many outstanding players who have played basketball for Tri-Eastern Conference schools. There have been even more players who were role players that contributed to their team success, but received little press coverage.

Union City graduate Sarah Rasso fit in the star player category during her playing days as a Union City Lady Indian. Now Indian Head Coach, Sarah Rasso Black has been inducted into the Union City Athletic Hall of Fame as a player. She is also the winningest coach for girls’ basketball in Union City school history.

During her time as a player and coach she has forged many friendships and made many memories. One such memory is coaching against a Northeastern team that had a team member named Seara Burton. Coach Black never forgot Burton, or the communities Burton represented when she wore a Northeastern uniform.

All Union City players proudly wore the number 22 in honor of Burton, a Northeastern alumna.

When Black brought her Union City Indians to Fountain City last Friday for a game with Northeastern her team wore warm-ups with the name Burton. They had the number 22 inscribed on the back in memory of Burton, a Richmond Police Department K-9 officer who died Sept. 18 after being shot in the line of duty.

Basketball is just a game. Sarah Rasso Black is still an outstanding representative of the game.

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Dan Harney is a sports reporter at the Western Wayne News.