The Union boys basketball team seemed to be playing catch-up all evening, but couldn't come back.

For the Union girls, experience by their opponent seemed to be its undoing.

Both Union squads took part in their respective KSAC Championship games at Clarion High School on Saturday, but both came up short, the boys in a 65-61 loss to undefeated Venango Catholic; the girls a 41-33 defeat to the Berries.

Union had a tough hill to climb as its two opponents entered the game a combined 43-1.

“I thought our kids played hard,” said Union boys coach Karen Davis. “We were tired. It was our fourth game this week.

“Trent (Corle) got into early foul trouble and that hurt us. Our biggest guy is out so we go short,” Davis added.

Union trailed 14-10 after the first quarter and 33-26 at the break, but could never pull even with the Vikings (23-0).

Brody Pollock led all scorers with 27 points and added a team-high eight rebounds.

Corle added 15 points for Union.

The Vikings were paced by Maxx Rynd's 18 points, followed by Ben Guth (14) and Alex Thurau (12).

“They kids played hard,” Davis said. “I'm glad we made it to this game. I'm proud of the kids. Who knows? We might get (Venango Catholic) again.”

In the girls' final, Union fell behind 9-3 after one quarter, something Damsels coach Josh Meeker attributed to jitters.

“It was kind of a lack of execution on our part,” said Meeker. “They ran a zone and we just passed the ball around the perimeter. We just had the three points. All the points in the quarter were three points.

“I think the kids were nervous. The difference between the two teams was Cranberry was in the championship game last year.

“My girls were not used to the big crowd, the pressure,” Meeker added.

The Damsels (20-3) did pull even after three quarters and did hold a four-point lead before the Berries pulled away in the fourth quarter.

“I talked to two or three coaches after and they said we had five or six shots with the four-point lead and couldn't get more. We just kept missing,” Meeker said.

“They had a girl make a 3-pointer to cut it to one point and they just kept going.”

Mariah Winchester led the Damsels with 12 points and nine rebounds while Tina Lipps added 16 rebounds. Emily Merryman and Sarah Lutz led the Berries (22-1) with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Boys KSAC ChampionshipVENANGO CATHOLIC 65Ben Guth 6 2-4 14, Alex Thurau 4 3-4 12, Mark Kulinski 2 2-2 6, Maxx Rynd 8 2-4 18, Garrett Hawkins 2 0-0 5, A.J. Toy 3 1-3 8, Matt Kuhn 0 2-2 2

Totals: 25 12-19 65.

UNION 61Taylor Smith 2 0-0 5, Brody Pollock 10 7-8 27, Shawn Booth 2 0-0 5, Trent Corle 5 4-5 15, Austin Davis 2 0-1 4, Derek Shirey 2 1-3 5.

Totals: 23 12-17 61.

Venango Catholic 14 19 19 13—65Union 10 16 17 18—613-point goals: Venango Catholic 3 (Thurau, Hawkins, Toy); Union 3 (Smith, Booth, Corle).

District 9 Class A Playoffs: Clarion at Union, Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Girls KSAC ChampionshipCRANBERRY 41Sarah Lutz 4 1-4 10, Erica Adams 2 0-2 4, Kylie Mason 1 2-2 5, Lauren Hogue 1 2-2 4, Emily Merryman 5 2-3 14, Quinn Mitchell 3 0-0 6, Sune Swart 0 0-0 0, Julie Swartzfager 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 14 7-13 41.

UNION 33Delani Priester 2 3-4 7, Mariah Winchester 4 1-2 12, Ashley MacKinlay 1 1-4 4, Daneka Stuart 0 0-0 0, Sierra Smith 2 0-0 5, Mackenzie Divins 0 0-0 0, Tina Lipps 2 1-2 5.

Totals: 11 6-12 33.

Cranberry 9 12 6 14—41Union 3 15 9 6—333-point goals: Cranberry 3 Merryman 2, Lutz); Union 5 (Winchester 3, MacKinlay, Smith).

District 9 Class A playoffs: Cameron County-Port Allegheny winner at Union, date and time to be determined