By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–(Ben) there, done that.
Ben McMillan poured in 29 points and Union City made 18-of-19 free throws to advance to Monday’s Region 7A Tournament semifinals with a 58-47 victory over Middleton Friday night at Marty Sisco Gymnasium.
Winners of 15 of their last 16 games, the Golden Tornadoes (24-8) now face No. 2 ranked and longtime rival Humboldt (25-3) in Monday’s semifinals at the Elam Center on the campus of UT Martin at 6 p.m.
At stake is not only a berth in the regional championship game, but also a spot in the sectionals -‑ to be played Monday, March 4.
The Vikings beat UC in last year’s region quarterfinals and the two have been regular bitter postseason combatants over the last three decades.
Union City moved on to this year’s Final 4 regional round by riding the hot hand of McMillan, who has had a penchant for playing well in big games the last two years for the Purple and Gold.
The sophomore guard scored 16 of the Twisters’ 23 first-half points, including the last of his four 3-pointers just before the intermission that gave UC a 23-20 lead and an advantage they would never relinquish.
McMillan then added 13 more markers in the second half when the Tornadoes pulled out to as much as a 17-point lead and combined with Tyler Walton and Kaler Bobo to go 9-for-9 at the charity stripe.
“Ben was tremendous,” Union City head coach Shane Sisco said. “He really shot the ball well from the field in the first half, and he’s done that a lot this year. Then, he, Tyler and Bobo all stepped to the line in the fourth quarter and made some free throws that kept them (Middleton) from gaining any ground after they’d made a few 3-pointers.”
The Twisters’ deliberate pace – their calling card this season along with an effective zone defense and solid 3-point shooting – again set the tone for the contest.
“Against athletic teams that want to play a faster tempo, we have to control the pace and be deliberate,” Sisco continued. “Middleton really didn’t want to play that way, but we were able to handle the ball against their pressure and keep them from forcing the pace. And we were deliberate again on the offensive end.”
UC led by as many as seven in the first half, once after a McMillan triple (14-7) and then when Walton scored on a drive (20-13) before the visiting Tigers evened things up at 20 a minute before the break.
McMillan’s deep trey capped his stellar first half and the Tornadoes then gradually expanded their advantage to double figures when Bobo bottomed a longball with under two minutes to go in the third stanza to make it 37-26.
Ahead 39-29 heading into the stretch run, Union City scored nine of the first 11 points of the fourth quarter to gain some breathing room.
A slashing McMillan converted an old-fashioned 3-point play, then capped the run with two free throws after Walton had sunk a pair.
The 48-31 advantage with 3:48 to go was UC’s largest of the game.
Walton shook off a slow first half and finished with 14 points, eight of those coming in the fourth quarter when he was effective around the goal.
In previewing Monday’s contest against H’boldt and Class 1A Mr. Basketball finalist Anthony Jones, Sisco said his troops should expect the always-athletic Vikings’ best shot.
“We know we’ll get their best effort – that seems to always be the case when we see them,” the UC coach stated. “We’ll need to match their intensity and physical play, keep Jones off the glass and from dominating inside and take care of the basketball.
“We must take away their strengths and we can let them have a stretch when they get happy and go on a big run.”
Trenton and Madison Academic will play in the other semifinal, set to begin at 7:30.
Photo by Mike Hutchens.
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