By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Though the Union City girls dropped a 48-34 decision to third-ranked Gibson County in the District 12-AA semifinals, the Lady Tornadoes did not go down without a fight.
UC, which fell in earlier meetings vs. the Lady Pioneers by 27 and 18 points, cut an 18-point deficit to 40-31 with just under six minutes to play Thursday night at Westview High School.
The Lady Twisters displayed gritty play throughout the contest, especially in the second half and on the defensive end where they scrapped for every loose ball and employed a physical bump-and-grind style that forced GC to earn every point.
In the end, though, Union City simply couldn’t muster enough offense to complete their noteworthy effort with a victory.
“The girls battled. They fought,” Tornado girls’ coach Antawn Coby said of his troops during a radio interview after the game.
After trailing 13-5 at the end of the first period and 29-16 at halftime, UC gave itself a chance to stay within striking distance and perhaps more with hard-nosed play over the final two periods when it was outscored by just a single point (19-18).
It was 39-26 entering the stretch run before Marlee Theobald banged in a 10-footer to reduce the difference to 10 with 7:15 to play. Ninety seconds later, Sophie Theobald scored to bring the Lady Tornadoes within 40-31.
Unfortunately, UC got no closer as it went more than four minutes without a point down the stretch.
Amari Bonds’ 3-pointer with less than a minute to play accounted for the only Twister field goal in the quarter after her team’s early surge.
Bonds made four treys in all to finish with a team-best 14 points for Union City. Khia German ended up with six points, and both Marlee Theobald and Aujani Moss had five markers.
GC (26-3) made 15-of-17 free throws – 7-of-8 in the final frame. UC (15-10) did not attempt a single foul shot in the contest.
Union City will now face Huntingdon (15-13) in Saturday’s 6 p.m. consolation game before Gibson County battles second-ranked Westview (25-2) in the 7:30 championship game.
Martin whipped Huntingdon 50-23 in Thursday’s first semifinal.