By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–The best effort of the young season fell barely short for the Union City girls.
UC pushed homestanding Trinity Christian Academy to the limit before dropping a 62-56 decision Tuesday night in Jackson.
The Lady Tornadoes are still looking for their first win after three games but gave a quality effort vs. a TCA program that has made the Division II state tournament the past three seasons and is now 3-0 this year.
Union City was within a deuce (57-55) with just over two minutes left when Adaiysha Snow hit a pair of free throws but did not make another field goal the rest of the way.
The Twister boys were outscored 43-27 in the middle two quarters of the nightcap and were guilty of 19 turnovers in a 72-60 setback.
Kaleb Williams made four of his five 3-pointers in the second half for the Lions, who hit 10 times from beyond the arc in all.
UC (1-2), which trailed by as many as 20 points early in the fourth quarter, halved that deficit with two minutes to go as Malaki Brooks scored 10 of his team-best 20 points.
The Tornadoes could get no closer, though.
Both Union City teams will play in Thanksgiving classics on Friday and Saturday – the girls in Smyrna, and the boys in Nashville.
TCA 62, UC 56 (G)
The Lady Tornadoes led early into the second quarter and never trailed by more than 10 points before mounting a late push that made things interesting.
A bucket by Marlee Theobald late in the opening frame put UC up 19-18, and though the Twister girls were outscored 13-5 in the waning stages of the first half, they did not go down without a fight.
Union City clawed within two points on five different occasions down the stretch – three times after buckets by Amari Bonds, who had another huge outing with a game-high 33 points.
The Lady Tornadoes actually had a chance to tie or take the lead with less than two minutes to go. TCA held off the charge, though, making 3-of-4 free throws and grabbing a key offensive rebound.
Theobald and Debrionna Robinson supported Bonds on the offensive end with nine points each.
TCA 72, UC 60 (B)
The Tornadoes failed to build on a quality win vs. Covington in their last outing against a TCA bunch that took control in the middle two frames.
Union City trailed just 15-14 after one but was down 38-26 at the half and 58-41 after three quarters.
The Twisters did show some sense of urgency and stepped-up intensity in the final eight minutes but could never mount a serious challenge.
D.J. Robinson added 15 points to the UC cause.