By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Shane Sisco resisted the urge to call a timeout after his team’s 17-point fourth-quarter lead over Westview had dwindled to 49-45 with just under six minutes to play.
Turned out, it was good strategy by the Union City boys’ coach.
Ben McMillan scored 11 straight points down the stretch and the Tornadoes held on to beat Martin 64-58 Tuesday night on the Chargers’ homecourt.
“There might be a situation down the road where that happens and we don’t have any timeouts,” explained Sisco, who saw his team improve to 3-1 on the young season. “I wanted to see how we handled a little adversity, and I was pleased that we righted the ship without me having to call a timeout.
“That’s something that gave us some confidence, I believe. And the fact that it was just four games into the season, I thought it was a good time to just sit back and watch and see if we could play through it.”
McMillan ended up with a game-high 26 points for the Purple and Gold, which also got balance from Nick Sanders (14) and Kaler Bobo (10) while shooting a blistering 65 percent (22-of-34) from 2-point range.
The win salvaged a split of the doubleheader for Union City as the Lady Tornadoes suffered their first loss after three wins to open the season, dropping a 50-25 decision to perennial Class 2A power Westview.
The Charger girls (5-0), who’ve made seven straight trips to the state tournament and recorded four consecutive 30-win seasons including last year’s state runner-up finish, did a number on UC defensively – holding the Lady Twisters to just seven field goals over the final three quarters.
“We just couldn’t get open,” Union City head coach Chuck Reedy said afterward. “They forced a lot of turnovers, but we had several others that were unforced.
“And when they make shots like they did tonight and play that kind of defense on the other end, they’re going to be hard to handle.”
The Tornado teams will make the long journey to Covington on Saturday night.
UC 64, Westview 58 (B)
The Twisters, who led 16-14 at the first-quarter horn and 32-24 at halftime, appeared comfortably in control with a 49-32 advantage after Sam Theobald bottomed a 3-pointer with two seconds left in the third stanza.
Bobo had a nice third period, helping UC to its biggest lead of the night and the Tornadoes stepped up their defensive pressure after halftime to create a handful of offensive chances which they converted.
Westview (1-4), though, scored the first 13 points of the fourth frame to roar back into contention and make it a two-possession game.
After Sanders ended Union City’s drought, McMillan took over.
The junior guard made three free throws, a pullup jumper, converted a drive to the bucket, then an old-fashioned 3-point play to keep his team in front. Carter Walton drew a huge charging call before McMillan capped his personal surge with one of two charities with 1:41 to play to make it 62-53.
“Ben had the string of points there in the fourth quarter, but I thought all of our guards did a really good job in the decision-making process,” continued Sisco, elaborating on his club’s nine-turnover performance. “I think the other big thing is that we won without having to make 10 or 12 3-pointers. We only hit two. And putting three guys in double figures was really good to see.
“This is our fourth game now that I’ve been pleased with out effort and intensity against good, quality opposition. And I think we’re going to continue to get better.”
UC outrebounded Martin 30-21, including 14-9 on the offensive end. The Tornadoes also held Martin to 19-of-44 (43 percent) shooting from the field.
Westview 50, UC 25 (G)
After falling behind 12-2 in the first quarter, the Lady Tornadoes put together their best stretch before going cold offensively and committing several floor mistakes.
Sophie Theobald’s 3-pointer broke a five-minute scoring drought, and buckets by Amari Bonds and Shyon Stephens early in the second segment drew Union City with 12-11.
The Lady Twisters could manage but one more field goal the rest of the quarter, however, and hit just five shots from the field total in the second half.
A 16-3 Westview run in the first 6 ½ minutes of the third period allowed the Lady Chargers to expand on their 22-13 intermission advantage and remove any doubt about the outcome.
“It takes adversity sometimes to find out what you’re made of,” Reedy added after his team’s first loss. “I don’t want to make a negative out of this because it is so early in the season.
“I want us to take the loss and learn from it.”
Jada Williams, who gave UC its only lead of the contest with the game’s first bucket, ended up with seven points to pace the Lady Tornadoes.
GIRLS
UNION CITY — 25
- Williams 7, Bonds 6, Theobald 5, Davis 3, Stephens 2, Henry 2.
WESTVIEW — 50
Avery Leyhue 16, Jada Harrison 11, E. Leyhue 9, Yancy 7, Williams 4, Barr 3.
Union City 9 4 7 5 — 25
Westview 12 10 16 12 — 50
Records: UC 3-1; Westview 5-0.
BOYS
UNION CITY — 64
Ben McMillan 26, Nick Sanders 14, Kaler Bobo 10, Theobald 5, Blackman 4, Brown 3.
WESTVIEW — 58
Jaden Ware 21, Quincy Allen 12, Ross Butler 10, Taylor 9, King 3, Skinner 3.
Union City 16 16 17 15 — 64
Westview 14 10 8 26 — 58
Records: UC 3-1; Westview 1-4.
Next Games: Saturday, UC plays at Covington at 6 p.m.
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