By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Unfortunately, one good half wasn’t enough for Union City.
Trailing second-ranked Greenfield by just six at the intermission, the Lady Tornadoes saw the reigning Class 1A state champions make seven of their nine 3-pointers in the third quarter to pull away for a 58-34 win Wednesday night in the District 13A Tournament semifinals.
The loss was not the end of the line, however, for UC (12-16), which will now face Dresden (15-11) in Saturday’s tourney consolation game at 6 p.m. at UT Martin’s Elam Center. The Twister girls then will move on to the Region 7A Tournament, set to begin Feb. 21, against either the first- or second-place finisher from District 14.
The combination of the Lady ‘Jackets’ suddenly-torrid shooting in the third period and the accumulation of more than two dozen turnovers by Union City were the deciding factors in the Tornadoes’ Wednesday loss after a promising first half.
“We turned the ball over way too much,” UC head coach Chuck Reedy confirmed. “They pressure the ball so well and that dictated both the pace of the game and how we played.
“We felt pretty good going into halftime, being down just six. But they got on a roll there in the third quarter and it seemed like they also capitalized on every mistake we made against their press.
“It was disappointing.”
An 11-4 second-quarter advantage after they’d fallen behind by 13 in the opening frame had the Lady Tornadoes within 25-19 at the intermission.
Kendall Davis knocked down a 3-pointer to get the deficit under double digits with just over two minutes showing before halftime and buckets by Shyon Stephens and Jada Williams got the Purple and Gold within two possessions at the break.
G’field (23-5), which will play Gleason (25-6) for the tourney title in Saturday’s nightcap, silenced any thought of a Union City upset though, by catching fire from the outside immediately after the mid-game timeout.
The ‘Jackets made four treys as part of a run of 14 straight points to begin the third period before Davis could hit the Lady Twisters’ first field goal with over five minutes having elapsed.
The gap was never smaller than 17 points the rest of the way.
Davis led Union City and was the only Tornado in double figures, scoring 14 points.
Tess Darby scored 19 to lead the winners and all scorers. Miss Basketball finalist Chloe Moore-McNeil was held to just nine points.
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