By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Missing a third starter against South Fulton Tuesday night turned out to be no big deal for the Union City girls.
One good spurt, meanwhile, was good enough for the Tornado boys.
The end result was a District 13A doubleheader sweep by UC of the neighboring Red Devils, the Lady Twisters rolling to a 54-26 victory, while the Union City boys pulled away for a 67-48 triumph in the nightcap.
The Tornado girls got 15 points from Shyon Stephens, 14 more from Jada Williams and stepped-up play from a handful of others, including Bre Williams and Kylie McCadney (eight points apiece) and Triana Mackins (six points) to make up for the absence of Kyndall Davis, who was out with back issues.
Arielle Everett and Shadimon Henry are already gone for the remainder of the year for UC after earlier suffering serious knee injuries.
The Union City boys used a 19-5 third-quarter flurry to pull away from the Red Devils, who’d shaved an 11-point deficit to one earlier in the frame.
Ben McMillan, who made six of the Tornadoes’ 13 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 29 markers, converted a rare four-point play to cap the flurry after Tyler Walton had connected twice from beyond the arc and Tariq Broadway added a triple.
UC improved to 12-7 overall and a league-leading 5-0 in district play. The Twister girls are now 7-9 and 3-2, good for fourth place among seven teams.
Union City visits Gleason on Friday.
UC 54, SF 26 (G)
The Lady Tornadoes limited South Fulton to just one first-half field goal and three total points while easing to a 22-3 halftime lead.
It was after the break, however, when the Purple and Gold actually managed some consistent offense.
“We just finally made some shots, starting there in the third quarter,” UC head coach Chuck Reedy said. “It was ugly at times, but the effort was good and when we got better spacing in the second half and hit some open looks.
“Mackins and Bre (Williams) and McCadney obviously got more minutes than they would have because of our injury situation, and they did some good things. Ultimately, when we get all our people back – and it won’t be until next season for a couple of them – this should make us better because of the experience we’re gaining with other people.”
Reedy said he expected Davis to return in some capacity for Friday’s game at Gleason.
A trey by Mackins and a hoop by Bre Williams just before the intermission gave UC its commanding halftime advantage.
Trifectas from Sophie Theobald and Bre Williams and a deuce from McCadney ballooned the difference to 35-8 late in the third frame.
The lead was never less than 20 points afterward.
UC 67, SF 48 (B)
McMillan’s shake-and-bake made 3-pointer, on which he was fouled with five seconds left in the third period, highlighted the Tornadoes’ telling second-half run.
He earlier in the stanza made good on an old-fashioned 3-point play.
“Obviously, our ability to shoot the ball there in the second half was the biggest thing,” winning head coach Shane Sisco said afterward. “I really didn’t feel like we had the energy we had on Saturday night and I thought our play on the defensive end was terribly inconsistent.
“We need to be more-consistent in our overall effort, night in and night out. We’re not always going to have one of those streaks where we make three or four in a row. “
McMillan started out hot, canning five of his 3-pointers in the first half, including a trio of those rainbows in the first three minutes. Walton, who ended up with four triples and 17 markers, connected on one of those treys and a deuce just before halftime to make it 27-19.
Kaler Bobo knocked down a shot from the corner to open the third period and give UC a double-digit lead before the Twisters then went cold and pointless for four minutes.
Walton’s longball jump-started the aforementioned run to help the Tornadoes again establish control.
It was 50-35 entering the stretch run.
Broadway joined McMillan and Walton in twin digits, scoring 10.
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