By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Milan’s inside muscle pushed the Union City boys out of the postseason.
Using a dominant presence in the paint that produced 17 second-chance points, the host Bulldogs ended UC’s season with a 48-38 loss in the Region 6AA Tournament semifinals Tuesday night.
The Tornadoes conclude their 2021-22 campaign at 12-18, their first sub-.500 record since 2010-11, and breaking a 10-season stretch of at least 20 wins.
Milan (21-7), meanwhile, notched its 14th straight win and locked up its first sectional berth since 1987.
Union City’s nemesis much of the year led to its season-ending demise Tuesday as the Bulldogs repeatedly cashed in with either stickbacks or made free throws after pulling in offensive rebounds.
The Twister defense was plenty good initially, limiting the Bulldogs to 8-of-26 on initial shot attempts at the basket.
“We just couldn’t keep them from getting second chances – especially in the second and third quarters,” UC head coach Shane Sisco said. “Defensively, we were sound enough on the first shots. They just were more physical than we were inside.”
The Tornadoes – using trapping fullcourt pressure that forced seven fourth-quarter turnovers — cut a 14-point deficit to 39-35 after back-to-back inside hoops of their own by Jaylen Lewis with three minutes to play.
But the Purple and Gold, which endured a nine-minute point-less spell that stretched from the third quarter to early in the fourth, had another dry run that lasted two minutes to extinguish its hot spell.
Included in that stretch were three misses, three turnovers, and a pair of errant one-and-ones.
“We settled too much on the offensive end in the first three quarters,” Sisco continued. “I want to kick myself for not going to the aggressive approach that we used in the fourth quarter earlier in the game. The scoreless spells have been us, in a nutshell, all season.”
UC scored the first five points of the contest. Milan began to assert itself in the paint in the second period, though, with Kam Tharpe converting a pair of 3-point plays to key a run of eight unanswered markers.
The Bulldogs led by as much as 21-14 after that flurry before the second of two Malaki Brooks’ 3-pointers got Union City within a deuce.
D.J. Robinson’s bucket got the Twisters within 23-21 to open the second half before Milan ran off 12 straight points while Union City went stone-cold offensively.
A bucket by Jackson Chism began the Tornado rally with Ben Kail and Joseph Lattus hitting from beyond the arc as part of the comeback.
The Bulldogs’ Jodarius Robinson – the District 12 MVP – took over down the stretch with nine straight points to help turn away UC. Robinson made 7-of-8 free throws during that time as part of Milan’s 21-of-28 performance from the charity stripe.
The Twisters were 0-for-5 for the game.
Lewis was the only UC player to reach double figures, scoring 10 points. Milan’s Robinson led all point-makers with 18.
Looking ahead, Sisco pointed to the postseason experience gained by his youthful squad that has just one senior (Skylar Mayes) as critical heading into next season when the team will surely need to get stronger.
“This experience will certainly help, and we have a ton of offseason work to do. That includes improving our offensive skills up and down the roster,” the coach concluded. “We have to have multiple kids on the floor who can score, and we have to get stronger and more physical because that’s the way the game is trending now.
“I was really proud of Skylar and what he brought to the team the last couple of years. He’s grown as a person and as a player, and he accepted his role and worked hard each day to get better.”
Milan will play Gibson County Thursday night for the region championship.