By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Union City’s heroic game-winning bucket that shocked second-ranked Madison Academic came just in the “Nick” of time.
Nick Sanders’ stickback basket as time expired lifted the Golden Tornadoes to a thrilling 36-35 upset victory over MA and the Region 7A Tournament championship Thursday night at Gibson County High School.
The stunning triumph was UC’s ninth straight and earned the Purple and Gold (23-10) host rights for Monday’s sectional game against Memphis Academy of Health Sciences (MAHS). The Lions lost to top-ranked Booker T. Washington 59-54 in the Region 8A title tilt and will bring a 20-8 record into Monday’s 7 p.m. contest.
Thursday’s win that set off a wild celebration among Tornado fans was made even more memorable in that it was head coach Shane Sisco’s 500th at Union City High School and No. 550 overall. It marked the 18th such regional tournament championship in the illustrious history of a Twister boys’ program that has produced five state titles and also snapped Madison Academic’s 16-game winning streak.
It likely will go down as one of Sisco’s finest coaching hours, too, as his deliberate style and game plan won out over the desires of a much more athletic MA team that wanted to push pace and play to its up-tempo strength.
Perhaps the most-telling stat in the contest was that a run-and-gun Mustang squad that impressively hung 86 points on a solid Peabody team in the tourney semifinals did not have a single transition bucket against UC.
That strategy worked out perfectly when Union City melted down the final 48 seconds after the Mustangs had taken a 35-34 lead as Sanders snagged an errant Kaler Bobo attempt and stuck home the deciding shot as the clock hit triple zeroes.
“We said coming in we wanted to make it a 40-possession game and we knew they wanted to make it an 80-possession game. It ended up having 41 possessions,” a smiling and obviously-pleased Sisco said afterward. “There was only one way we could play and have a chance because of their athleticism, and the guys took the game plan and executed it about as well as we could ever hope for.
“All the credit goes to them and I couldn’t be any more-proud of them. We didn’t depend on just one guy … Nick made the play at the end, Kaler (Bobo) hit a critical 3-pointer and then scored on a drive in the fourth quarter and Sam (Theobald) had a huge and-one (3-point play). And Ben (McMillan), he made three big shots, probably none bigger than the three that tied things up at 23 after they’d taken the lead there near the end of the third quarter.
“It was truly a total team effort.”
Tied at 23 entering the fourth quarter, momentum and hope swung with seemingly every possession.
Bobo scored eight straight for the Twisters, including a long-distance trey and an old-fashioned 3-point play, to put his team up 31-27 with a little more than five minutes to go. The difference was five (34-29) after a cutting Theobald was rewarded with a 3-point play at the 2:36 mark.
Madison scored the next six points, however, taking advantage of a pair of rare UC turnovers. James Anderson’s pullup jumper with 48 seconds going gave the Mustangs a one-point lead and set the stage for the storybook Tornado finish.
“We talk all the time about valuing possession, and when you limit possessions like we felt like we had to do tonight, it was important to not turn the ball over,” Sisco continued. “We only had eight turnovers, but a couple of those really hurt us in the final two minutes. We still found a way (to win) though.
“Defensively, we sort of mixed and matched all night. We corrected what mistakes we made in the first half in the second half and were just good enough and effective rebounding-wise. I thought another big thing was that Ben, Sam and Bobo all were consistent in getting back defensively and never allowed them to run the court like they wanted.”
A run of 10 answered points in the second quarter gave UC its largest lead of the night, 15-9.
Sanders had his only other bucket in the contest to forge a 9-all tie, and a McMillan triple, a Bobo slash to the basket and a Bobo free throw were all part of that run.
It was 15-12 at the half.
Sisco deflected all the credit for his personal milestone to his players – both present and past. He admitted to having special feelings, though, for this year’s bunch.
“I told the kids in the locker room afterward that we’ve won a lot of games in this program, but this win ranks right up there with the best I’ve had at Union City,” the reflective coach claimed. “We’ve had more talented teams than this one, but this group is really special because they’ve bought in and done everything we’ve asked them to do. It’s not always been pretty, but they’ve taken every game plan we’ve had and executed it in the last four weeks.
“And I’ve said it before, the last couple of years has been among the most enjoyable seasons of any I’ve had here because of the caliber and type young men we have. They’ve been extremely coachable and they’ve all been so unselfish. I’m honored to be the coach at Union City High School.”
Bobo finished with 16 points to lead the Tornadoes and all scorers in the contest. McMillan – named the tournament Most Valuable Player and joined on that glitter unit by Sanders and Neil Brown – finished with nine markers.
Madison, which last lost two months ago, will take a 29-3 mark into its sectional game at No. 1 ranked Booker T. Washington (27-4) Monday.
REGION 7A TOURNAMENT
BOYS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
MADISON ACADEMIC — 35
Soloman Peggs 14, Pack 7, Bond 7, Anderson 6, Ballard 1.
UNION CITY — 36
Kaler Bobo 16, McMillan 9, Sanders 4, Brown 4, Theobald 3.
Madison Academic 6 6 11 12 — 35
Union City 5 10 8 13 — 36
Records: Madison Academic 29-3; Union City 23-10.
Next Game: UC will play host to MAHS (Memphis Academy of Health Sciences), Monday night at 7, in a Class 1A Sectional game.
