By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Unfortunately for Union City, the third time against Westview this season was not the charm.
The Tornadoes dropped their third decision in as many meetings with the Chargers Friday, losing 56-46 in the District 12-AA semifinals in Martin.
UC (10-17) will now face Gibson County (12-12) in the tourney consolation game Monday at 6 p.m. The Tornadoes will then move on to the Region 6-AA Tournament, where they’ll travel to either Camden or Waverly for a first-round game Saturday, Feb. 26.
The Twisters were simply unable to match Westview’s physical nature in Friday’s third meeting of the 2022 campaign.
The Chargers dominated the interior on both ends, suffocated UC defensively with bump-and-grind pressure and held a huge advantage rebounding-wise in the latest matchup of the close rivals. In addition to doing most of its damage deep in the paint, Martin got multiple second- and third-chance opportunities with 14 offensive boards.
Union City did lead early by as many as six points but went over seven minutes without a bucket while Westview ran off 13 straight markers to take a lead it would never lose.
“Postseason is a survival of the fittest and I thought most physical team won,” Tornado head coach Shane Sisco said afterward.
A pull-up jumper by D.J. Robinson gave UC a 10-4 lead five minutes into the contest before the Twisters’ endured a lengthy scoreless drought while the Chargers began to assert themselves in close.
Down 24-16 at the half, the Tornadoes immediately narrowed that gap by scoring seven of the first eight points of the third period. Maliki Brooks – who had 19 of his 21 points in the second half – buried a deep 3-pointer to draw the Purple and Gold within 25-23 at the 5:40 mark.
The difference remained manageable for Union City the rest of the frame, with Brooks knocking down another triple to make it 37-32 with 33 seconds left in the quarter.
After falling behind by nine (41-32) in the opening stages of the stretch run, the Twisters drew within four points on a Brooks drive and a Robinson trey with 6:10 to go. However, UC would get no closer, hampered by missed shots and untimely turnovers.
“I thought we did some good things and got to the front of the rim, but we didn’t finish enough,” Sisco added. “Defensively, we had too many break downs that led to open baskets. We had seven possessions at the end of the first quarter and six more to start the second without scoring, and that got us in a hole.”
“Monday is important for us, though, as we just try and get some momentum going into next Saturday and go try to steal a win on the road in the first round of the regional.”