Mike Hutchens
Communications Director
Another great start trumped a frantic finish for Union City.
The Tornadoes built a 20-point lead in the first 10 minutes, then held on for dear life to claim a 61-56 win over visiting Middleton in the Region 7A Tournament boys’ quarterfinals Friday night.
The victory has UC (21-10) just one more step from a spot in the regional championship game and a berth in the Class A Sectionals. The Purple and Gold will face longtime rival Humboldt (12-13) in the second of two semifinals Monday night at 7:30 at Gibson County High School with those stakes on the line.
Humboldt outlasted Lake County 66-62 in overtime to earn its region Final 4 place.
As has been the case in its other two postseason games, Union City stormed from the starting gates and took immediate control against Middleton.
The Twisters – who shot a torrid 81.8 percent (18-of-22) for the game from 2-point range — scored the contest’s first 14 points and led 22-2 at 6:29 of the second quarter.
Ben McMillan and Kaler Bobo combined for 15 of UC’s points in the opening surge before the visitors began to chip away at that big deficit behind freshman R.J. Robinson, who scored 14 points in each half for a game-high 28 total.
Middleton, which put together a 14-4 run to get back into the contest and trail just 27-19 at halftime, twice made it a one-possession game in the final two minutes.
But Bobo made a hanging floater and then canned a pair of free throws to extend the difference to five points – the second time 59-54 with 43 seconds to go. Nolan Wilson connected twice from the charity stripe in the final 22 seconds to account for the final margin.
“Again, another great start and then we took a punch in the late-going and stood our ground,” a relieved Tornado head coach Shane Sisco said afterward. “It all started on the defensive end – just as it had in our other two tournament games. Plus, we took care of the ball and rebounded it well.
“We made enough plays at the end and had the right people at the free throw line, too.”
Union City made 11-of-16 from the foul line in the final eight minutes with Bobo connecting on 5-of-6 and Nick Sanders hitting 3-of-4. All totaled, the Twisters were 21-of-31, compared to 13-of-23 from Middleton.
After its lead was cut to eight at the intermission, UC stretched that back to 43-28 late in the third period on McMillan’s 3-pointer. Again, Middleton refused to fold, though, creeping to within 46-37 at the third quarter horn and making one final push midway through the final stanza.
It was 53-49 with three minutes to play before McMillan tallied on a baseline drive to make it a six-point game. A triple by Robinson narrowed the difference to 55-52 with 2:10 to go and Ed Walton’s deuce had the count at 57-54 with under a minute left.
“I thought we rebounded the ball well and maybe the biggest one of the game was one that Sam (Theobald) got there late,” Sisco added. “They made us execute to just get the ball inbounds, but we did so and got it downcourt.
“I was really proud of (Kaler) Bobo, with the way he handled the ball with minimal turnovers despite their physicality, and I thought Nick (Sanders) really had another solid game on both ends.
“We just have to sustain how we played in the first 10 minutes for the entire game.”
Bobo had 17 points, Sanders 16 and McMillan 13 to give the Tornadoes three players in double digits.
REGION 7A TOURNAMENT
BOYS’ QUARTERFINALS
MIDDLETON — 56
R.J. Robinson 28, Ed Walton 12, Polk 5, Warren 5, Phinnessee 2, Anderson 2, Tally 2.
UNION CITY — 61
Kaler Bobo 17, Nick Sanders 16, Ben McMillan 13, Theobald 6, Brown 5, Wilson 2.
Middleton 2 17 18 19 — 56
Union City 16 11 19 15 — 61
Records: Middleton 10-15; Union City 21-10.
Next Game: UC faces Humboldt, Monday night at 7:30, in the second of two semifinal games.