By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Welcome back, Amari Bonds.
Out for three games due to an ankle injury, Union City’s sophomore standout returned to the lineup Friday and made six 3-pointers to lead the Lady Tornadoes to a 58-29 victory at South Fulton.
UC’s leading scorer for the season, Bonds sank a trio of triples in the first seven minutes when the Twister girls jetted to a 15-2 lead and never looked back.
Teammate Jada Williams matched Bonds’ 19-point effort and helped the Twister girls improve to 10-10 overall and 8-2 in District 13A. Union City could clinch at least a tie for the regular season championship and top seed in the upcoming postseason tournament by beating Gleason on Tuesday and Lake County Thursday.
The UC boys, meanwhile, locked up the regular season 13A title and homecourt advantage throughout the district tourney with a 67-60 win over the Red Devils.
Ben McMillan (24) and Neil Brown (16) combined for 40 points and provided a solid outside-inside combination, though it was a supreme defensive effort in the third period when the Purple and Gold held SF to just two points that was truly the difference.
Union City (16-7, 11-0) is now assured of a first-round district bye into the semifinals and an automatic spot in the regionals after beating its two closest challengers – SF and Bradford – in its last two outings.
The Tornadoes will celebrate Senior Night Tuesday against Gleason, then travel to Covington – a replacement for Collierville – next Thursday to close their regular season.
UC 58, SF 29 (G)
Bonds and her outside gunning was a welcome sight for the Lady Tornadoes, who won two of three games in her absence.
After Williams opened the scoring with a trey, Bonds tickled the twine three times in the first frame before finding the mark twice more from beyond the arc in the second quarter. Just before halftime, Bonds fed Williams to give Union City its largest first-half lead, 32-12.
Sophie Theobald hit from deep, then assisted to Williams for another bucket as UC opened the second half with a 12-2 run to dash any possible comeback hopes of the Devilettes. Williams’ deuce at the third-quarter horn made it 50-19, with multiple subs for both teams playing out the string.
The Twister girls made nine 3-pointers in all.
SF (4-14, 3-8) struggled mightily offensively, including a 7-for-24 performance at the free throw line, with 13 of those misses in the fourth quarter.
UC 67, SF 60 (B)
The Tornadoes locked up the perks for finishing first in the district by building a 55-41 lead with six minutes to play, then making enough free throws when South Fulton was forced to start fouling with nearly half the fourth quarter still to play.
Brown’s follow shot gave Union City a 14-point cushion before the Redmen heated up from the perimeter and made things interesting by getting to within 63-60 with a barrage of 3-pointers — the last of which was made by Ryder Whitehead with 45 seconds to go.
McMillan calmed any Twister anxieties, though, with a pair of charities at the 31-second mark before Carter Walton sealed the deal with two more foul shots with 15 seconds to play.
UC made 25-of-35 in all from the stripe, many down the stretch when SF was playing catch up and forced to foul. The Tornadoes did miss six times from the line in the fourth quarter.
The Twisters never trailed after McMillan connected from downtown to break a 2-all tie in the early going. Freshman Malaki Brooks hit from deep to make it 19-12 at the first-period horn.
Union City led by six twice in the second frame before SF (15-5, 8-3) closed to within 38-36 at the intermission.
With its smothering defense that included a couple of charges taken by Walton and another drawn by McMillan, the Tornadoes gradually expanded their lead in the third stanza. A 3-point play by Brown inside expanded the difference to 50-38 with eight minutes to go.
A.J. Blackman, who had all nine of his points in the fourth segment, made 6-of-8 free throws to help keep UC in front.
South Fulton hit 10 3-pointers in the contest and put three players in double figures, led by Beau Britt’s 17 makers – 15 of which came in the first half.