Youngsville played stifling defense and knocked down enough shots to come away with a big 53-38 Region 2 victory over the Union City Bears on Tuesday at Youngsville High School.

Hendrickson, a 2020 graduate of Youngsville and the schools’ most recent 1,000-point scorer, tragically passed away on Saturday as a result of injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident last month.

Several of Hendrickson’s classmates, teammates and friends were present Tuesday and huddled around his No. 11 jersey at midcourt prior to the start of Tuesday’s game as an emotional tribute was read.

When the game started, Youngsville (6-5) used the emotion and energy of the crowd and tried to bring something positive out of a tragic occurrence.

Times Observer photo by Allen Seybert Youngsville freshman Rylan Benton, left, eyes up a Union City opponent while defending during Tuesday’s 53-38 victory.

The game was tied at 13-13 through the first quarter, but the second stanza belonged to the Eagles. Rylan Benton and Carson Chase each knocked down deep 3-pointers and the defense allowed just seven points to build a 30-20 halftime lead.

Youngsville pushed the advantage to 14 halfway through the third quarter, but a 7-0 run to end the stanza got the Bears within seven with a quarter to play.

In the fourth quarter, Youngsville was at its very best.

All five starters — Benton, Chase, Cash Moore, Ethan Beers and Nathan Lucks — scored a bucket during a decisive 10-2 run to start the quarter as the Eagles cruised to their sixth victory of the season.

Benton paced the Eagles’ effort with 18 points and Lucks and Chase joined him in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Beers finished with 8 points and Moore added 4.

Union City won the junior varsity game 25-13. Braydon Baker scored 5 points and Hudson Haight added 4 points in defeat.

Varsity

UNION CITY (38)

Parkhurst 1 0-0 2, Wingard 4 0-1 8, McNulty 3 1-2 7, Capela 4 2-5 10, Blakeslee 5 0-0 10, Troyer 0 1-2 1. Totals 17 4-10 38.

YOUNGSVILLE (53)

Lucks 5 2-2 12, Benton 7 1-1 18, Chase 4 0-0 11, Beers 3 2-2 8, Moore 2 0-0 4, Rowland 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 5-5 53.

3-point goals–Benton 3, Chase 3

Union City 13 7 10 8 — 38

Youngsville 13 17 7 16 — 53

Jayvee

UNION CITY (25)

Troyer 3 0-1 7, Weinczkowski 1 0-0 2, Trauner 2 0-2 4, Kibbe 2 0-0 4, Williams 3 0-0 6, Turner 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 1-3 25.

YOUNGSVILLE (13)

Baker 2 0-0 5, Rowland 1 0-0 2, Pikna 0 0-0 0, Boozer 1 0-4 2, Haight 2 0-0 4, Connor 0 0-0 0, Edwards 0 0-0 0. Totals 6 0-4 13.

3-point goals–Baker.

Union City 8 4 6 7 — 25

Youngsville 5 0 4 4 — 13