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By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Coach Shane Sisco obviously liked the result. The Union City boys’ coach was enamored with his team’s demeanor even more.
“We challenged our kids to be excited and play with some emotion after last night,” Sisco said after the Tornadoes avenged an earlier loss to Class 2A Crockett County with a 56-50 win over the Cavaliers Saturday night at Marty Sisco Gymnasium.
“No doubt, we did that. We made a lot of good plays. Made some big shots, and we were excitable when we did things well. It’s very satisfying to win when you play with the kind of emotion we did tonight.”
Kaler Bobo, Ben McMillan and Tyler Walton combined to make nine of UC’s 10 3-pointers and the Purple and Gold got a big boost inside from the play of 6-5 sophomore Neil Brown to triumph for the second straight night.
The Union City girls, though, couldn’t match up with the athleticism of streaking Crockett County in Game 1, dropping a 64-35 decision.
CC (15-2) has won nine straight now, and is sure to be ranked when the first Associated Press state listings are released next week.
Next up for UC’s two teams is a pair of district games next week – at home vs. South Fulton Tuesday and at Gleason on Friday.
UC 56, CC 50 (B)
The Twisters, playing with a great deal of intensity on the defensive end, bolted to a 12-2 lead before the first period was half over behind Walton, who sank two 3-pointers and a pair of 2-pointers in that spurt.
Crockett (8-9) weathered the storm, however, and actually led 17-14 at the first-quarter horn and 32-27 at the half.
Brown’s jump hook from in close evened things at 34 before Bobo, who made all three of his 3-pointers after the break, drained a try to give Union City a 37-36 lead. Walton capped a 10-2 flurry with a bucket and the Tornadoes were up 39-37 heading into the stretch run.
Two more triples by Bobo had the Twisters up 48-41 halfway through the final stanza before CC again rallied back to draw even at 48 at the 2:08 mark.
McMillan hit two pressure-packed foul shots with 1:38 left and Brown then powered home a hoop from inside to give the Tornadoes a 52-48 lead with 59 seconds to go.
Walton hit two charities to pad the lead even further, then followed that with a critical block on the defensive end.
Two free throws by Sam Theobald with six ticks showing sealed the deal for UC.
“I thought we really started out well in our zone. We were active and played with some intensity. But I was most pleased with our effort in our man defense in the second half when we were able to take away their 3-point shooting,” Sisco added.
“(Kaler) Bobo made some big plays on the defensive end and hit some critical shots, and Neil (Brown) had his best effort of the year inside. He doesn’t have to score a lot, he just has to be a presence. He had two big buckets and several huge rebounds.”
Walton finished with 17 points, McMillan totaled 15 and Bobo added 11 to top the UC score sheet.
The Twisters hit 10-of-22 from beyond the arc and 10-of-12 from the free throw line.
CC 64, UC 35 (G)
The Lady Tornadoes were overwhelmed early by Crockett County’s pressure and superior athletic ability.
“They just out-athleted us, bottom line,” UC head coach Chuck Reedy said. “When we play athletic teams, they keep us from getting to the basket, and we have to do that to have a chance at being successful.
“They have a veteran team with four seniors and I have no doubt they’ll challenge for the district title in 13AA.”
It was 16-6 after one, 34-11 at halftime and 54-28 with three periods in the book.
Jada Williams had 10 points as Union City’s top scorer, while Kendall Davis was a point shy of double figures.
The Lady Tornadoes are 6-9 overall heading into next week’s play.