Passion guides Logue on the court
RIMERSBURG — Toward the end of her freshman season, the word was out on Dominika Logue.
Opponents began devising plots to stop the burgeoning Union girls basketball star.
Box-in-one.
Face guarding.
Junk defenses.
Logue wasn't ready for it.
“I struggled with it,” Logue admitted. “I didn't know what to do with it. I just stood around and got flustered.”
Logue was well aware she had to adjust this season. Opponents weren't going to forget about her.
So, the sophomore went to work on being more difficult to guard.
“My coaches helped me a lot, told me what I could do to beat it,” Logue said. “I have to run around like a chicken with its head cut off and tire out the girl who is guarding me.”
Logue has found a way to be even more dangerous this season than she had been last year.
Logue is averaging 19.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and three steals per game for the Damsels, who sit at 6-4 and have playoff aspirations despite a very young roster and starting lineup.
Defenses haven't been able to stop her when she's on the floor.
Part of the reason she is so confounding to the opposition now is Logue can do so many things well.
She can post up with her strong 5-foot-10 frame. She can handle the ball, going equally well to her right or left. She can shoot from the outside and she has developed a step-back jumper that if on makes her nearly unstoppable.
“That is one thing about her; you can put her wherever you need her, ask her to do anything and she can do it,” said Union coach Ally Kepple. “She's a great player.”
Logue played football until she was 11. A quarterback, she showed off a strong arm and an uncanny ability to read a defense.Those skills have served her well on the basketball court.“I see the floor better because of football,” Logue said. “In football, you have to trust your offensive line and in basketball you have to trust your teammates, too. I trust them tremendously.“I have great teammates,” she added. “We have a great bond.”If Logue had her druthers, she'd prefer to get an assist rather than score herself.She gets more fired up after a great pass than she does after a great shot.“It's always a great feeling when you make a pass and your teammate lays it in or hits a shot,” Logue said. “I run up to them and give them a high-five.”Logue, though, does plenty of scoring herself.And she isn't shy about taking a deep 3-pointer from time to time, mainly because defenses do play her so tight.“Coach K — that's what we call Coach Kepple — tells me all the time that if I'm open, don't be afraid to take the shot,” Logue said. “She says, 'You have the green light from me.'”There's no questioning whether or not Logue cares.After fouling out early in the fourth quarter against Karns City Wednesday, Logue was in tears and inconsolable on the bench.“She has such passion for the game,” Kepple said. “She does a great job of lifting up the girls, too. Even when she was on the bench, during timeouts she was giving advice.”Logue raved about the impact Kepple and assistant coach Lacey Magagnotti have had on her development.“I have great coaches in my life,” she said.Logue also raved about her team and expressed her hope that the Damsels will return to the level of the glory days of the program.Logue grew up hearing tales about Union girls basketball. The 20 win seasons. The district titles. The dominance.She often picks the brain of her math teacher, Josh Meeker, who guided the Damsels to 207 wins and a trip to the PIAA semifinals during his 10-year coaching career.Logue would like nothing more than to see those times return.“I've seen a tremendous jump from last year,” Logue said. “We all want to win. We've heard a lot about all the great teams and tradition at Union. We all want to be that great team.”
