RIMERSBURG — Eight weeks into the season, Union's boys basketball team was reeling.

Losses in seven of eight games had dropped the Golden Knights to 7-9 after a promising start.

"We weren't sharing the ball like we should've been and the defense was struggling," said Union coach Eric Mortimer, "but I knew they had it in them to make a run."

Eric Mortimer

The Knights closed the regular season by winning five of the last six games, beginning with a defeat of Keystone Jan. 30. They gave eventual KSAC champion Clarion-Limestone all it could handle in a conference semifinal, falling by just five points.

Union went on to win three postseason games, including the program's first state playoff triumph in 49 years. The turnaround earned for Mortimer the Butler Eagle's 2022-23 Boys Basketball Coach of the Year honor.

"I feel good about the run we had, not so much for me but for the kids," said Mortimer, who played guard for Union before graduating in 1972. This season was his third in a second stint with the Knights. He previously led the team 2016-19, though he has been involved with the program for over two decades.

Seeded No. 6 in District 9's eight-team Class 1A bracket belied the confidence the Knights were playing with. They defeated their first two playoff opponents — Clarion and DuBois Central Catholic — after going 0-3 against them in the regular season. They eliminated the No. 3 Bobcats, 58-48, before a 51-48 upset of the No. 2 Cardinals, which landed Union in the District 9 championship game for the first time since 2011.

Following a loss to Elk County Catholic in the district title game, the Knights cruised past Turkeyfoot Valley in the first round of the PIAA tournament. The season ended four days later when they ran into eventual state champion Imani Christian Academy.

The Knights’ starting lineup included Payton Johnston, Skyler Roxbury, Dawson Camper, Trey Fleming and Zander Laughlin. The last three are members of a very strong class of juniors.

“When those guys played on the freshman team, they lost just two or three games,” said Mortimer. “We knew they would be good for us and we can build on them moving forward.”

Union came out of the season with a 15-13 record, but the memories are worth much more to Mortimer, including the mood in practices and in the locker room during the late-season surge.

"It was awesome. At that point, we had nothing left to lose," he said. "We believed in the players and they believed in themselves."

Serving as assistant coaches for Union this season were Matt Bish and Jason Johnston.