By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Union City’s ‘bigs’ came up huge.
Neil Brown dominated the inside with a game-high 18 points and frontcourt mate Taylan Tribble made three critical first-half 3-pointers to lead the Golden Tornadoes to a 61-42 Region 7A quarterfinal victory over visiting Peabody Saturday night.
The triumph marked the 10th consecutive season the Tornado boys have reached the 20-win mark and pushed them into the tournament semifinals where they’ll host Humboldt Tuesday night with a spot in the tourney championship game and berth in the sectionals at stake.
UC will carry a 20-7 mark into that contest against one of its long-time rivals, while the Vikings will come in at 17-6 after rolling over Lake County 75-47 in their first-round game.
Tickets for the contest at Marty Sisco Gymnasium will go on sale at UCHS Tuesday morning at 8 a.m., with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. Doors will open one hour before the contest is set to begin.
There will be no tickets sold at the door.
Brown, at 6-5 — the biggest player on the Tornado roster — and the 6-3 Tribble, were the obvious difference-makers in Union City’s convincing triumph over a more-athletic Tide squad that saw its season end at 15-15.
Brown was literally unstoppable in the post, going perfect from the field and tallying eight of his game-best markers in the final period when the Purple and Gold put Trenton away.
Tribble nailed a pair of triples in the first quarter – the second at the buzzer to give UC a lead it would not lose – then sank his third shot in as many tries from beyond the arc late in the opening half when the Twisters built a double-digit lead, 28-18.
“Neil was just so active inside and was so effective at finishing around the rim,” Tornado head coach Shane Sisco said. “We were patient getting the ball to him, and he just was unstoppable with his size and strength.
“Taylan’s ability to step out and make the perimeter shot really spreads the floor and keeps people from collapsing on Neil inside. His shots were huge in opening things up and also gave us a great boost from the outside.”
The Tornadoes were effective on the defensive end, too, in a plan that limited Peabody penetration and forced the Tide to shoot from outside where they were 2-of-16 from beyond the 3-point line.
“We did a really good job keeping them out of the lane,” Sisco confirmed. “I thought AJ (Blackman) and Carter (Walton) were really good at what we’d game planned, and then, we were outstanding at keeping them off the offensive glass.”
Peabody, indeed, claimed just four offensive caroms.
A 15-8 second quarter helped UC open a 10-point halftime cushion.
Brown converted twice inside prior to Tribble’s last 3-point bomb and Ben McMillan made but his second field goal of the first half just before the intermission buzzer.
The Tornadoes gradually padded their lead in the third period, four times leading by as many as 15 points as four different players scored to provide that lead.
Ahead 48-36 heading into the stretch run, Union City continued to make both the big and little plays in that final eight minutes to pull away further. Brown made four straight from the foul line in the last 1:45 and freshman Malaki Brooks bottomed a 25-footer with 23 seconds to account for the final and largest difference of the night.
Sisco paid tribute to his five-player senior class for another 20-victory feat.
“Winning a district championship, winning 20 games and having a shot to get back to the sectionals comes with a little more luster this year — because of the circumstances with the coronavirus and so many unknowns,” he said.
“I believe, no doubt, it’s because of our five seniors. They’ve stayed calm in the midst of chaos and they’ve been mature leaders of our team with what they’ve endured.”
McMillan finished with 12 points and Tribble totaled 11 to give UC a trio of double figure scorers.
UC shot 22-of-44 overall, including 7-of- 16 from 3-point range and 15-of-28 inside the line.
The Tornadoes were guilty of just seven turnovers.