By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–It wasn’t the opening to 2020 Union City had hoped for.
The Tornado teams dropped a pair of games to visiting 3A Dyer County in their first outings of the new year Saturday night, the girls falling 62-54 and the shorthanded boys losing 66-39.
The UC girls now stand at 8-7, while the Twister boys are 9-6 heading into Tuesday’s home games against Westview.
The Lady Tornadoes erased a double-figure first-half deficit and forged a 44-all tie early in the fourth quarter of Game 1 before coming up short.
Union City did so with seasonal leading scorer Amari Bonds held without a point until the fourth quarter as Kyndall Davis (15 points), Jada Williams (14) and Sophie Theobald (9) carried the offensive load.
The Lady Twisters overcame 17 first-half turnovers against fullcourt DC pressure and actually took a 39-38 lead on one of Davis’ five 3-pointers in the third quarter before falling short in the end.
The UC boys were without leading scorer Ben McMillan, who is sidelined indefinitely with a hip injury similar to the one that hampered him in the preseason.
A couple of other Tornado players were held out of action for different periods of time, due to missing or being late to practice.
Junior Carter Walton took advantage of an extended playing time opportunity and finished with a team-high 16 points and also was rewarded for intense play on the defensive end by drawing three charges.
Union City was within 25-21 at halftime, but was outscored 41-18 in the second half – a span that began with three consecutive turnovers that DC converted into points.
The Tornado teams will swing back into District 13A play next Friday with a trip to Bradford.
DC 62, UC 54 (G)
The Lady Choctaws (14-3) took advantage of Union City’s rash of turnovers in the first half to build a 13-point lead and was up 36-27 at the intermission.
Treys by Triana Mackins and Davis narrowed the difference to four points late in the second frame.
A triple by Theobald, who then assisted Williams for a deuce, and two free throws by Shyon Stephens fueled a third-quarter surge that set the stage for Davis’ bomb that gave the Twister girls a brief lead late in the segment.
Dyer County spurted in the final four minutes, though, to retake the lead and hold UC at bay.
“I thought we handled their pressure much better in the second half,” Lady Tornado head coach Chuck Reedy said. “Our effort was really good in most spurts … we just have to eliminate those few bad spurts.
“To not only still be in the game, but to be ahead late in the third quarter without getting anything from Amari (Bonds) was a great sign. Kyndall made some big shots and played well, and we got some contributions from Jada (Williams) and Sophie (Theobald) on the offensive end too.”
Union City made nine 3-pointers in all.
DC 66, UC 39 (B)
The Tornadoes’ best stretch came in the latter stages of the first half when they shaved a twin-digit deficit to 25-21 at the break.
Walton had nine of his points over those first two periods and buckets by Neil Brown and Nick Sanders in the last minute of the second stanza capped a UC mini-run.
The Twisters began the second half with three straight floor mistakes, however, allowing the Choctaws (13-4) to begin a telling stretch in which they pulled away. UC managed just five points the entire third quarter – outscored by 15.
Union City was guilty of more than two dozen turnovers in all in the contest.
No other Tornado after Walton scored more than five points.