The Northeastern girls basketball team hosted Union County on Wednesday, Jan. 21, in a battle for the outright lead in the Tri-Eastern Conference. The teams entered the game as the only two remaining teams without a conference loss.
The game was evenly contested for most of the first three quarters. The Lady Patriots held a 15-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. Brooklyn Beck hit a three-pointer for Union County in the final seconds of the second quarter to tie the score at 28-28 at halftime.
The dogfight continued through the early stages of the third quarter. Halfway through the period, Ady Kircher scored to tie the score at 33-33. Seconds later, Livi Tinkle scored on a rebound basket to tie the score at 35-35. The Lady Knights raised their level of play, going on a 9-0 run capped off by a Mackenzie Johnson basket to give the Knights a 44-35 lead, and the Patriots never recovered.
Johnson and Ady Kircher each scored 21 points for the winners. A trio of freshmen led the Patriots: Beck and Tinkle each scored 12 points, and Kaybree Suttle scored 10 points.
Northeastern (14-7, 6-0 TEC) 14 14 20 11 59
Union County (9-9, 5-1 TEC) 15 13 11 9 48
Northeastern (59)
Brooklynne Adams 6, Macey Oler 5, Fiona Breitenbach 2, Ady Kircher 21, Sammi Kircher 4, Kendall Patterson 0, Johnson 21
A version of this article appeared in the January 28 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.