By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–To say the Union City boys are on the rise is an understatement.
The Golden Tornadoes, who climbed from fifth to third in the latest Associated Press Class 1A state rankings earlier Tuesday, recorded their second mercy-rule triumph in three nights with a 57-20 thumping of South Fulton at Marty Sisco Gymnasium.
The lopsided triumph was UC’s fifth straight and nine in its last 10 games. The Twisters are now 17-5 overall and lead District 14A with a perfect 5-0 mark heading into Friday’s homecoming date with visiting Dresden.
Union City overwhelmed SF with its fullcourt defensive pressure Tuesday, forcing turnovers in bunches and 30 floor mistakes in all.
Many of those Red Devil mistakes resulted in easy buckets for the Purple and Gold, which got a nice bench effort from DeAngelo Monroe (15 points) and additional double-figure scoring from Malaki Brooks (14) and Ben Kail (11).
The nightcap triumph salvaged a split of the twinbill as the Union City girls were on the wrong end of a 59-33 rout against South Fulton.
The combination of poor shooting, multiple turnovers, and the play of Devilette standout Maddie Gray (28 points) proved way too much for the Lady Tornadoes to handle.
UC – which lost an earlier meeting with SF by eight points – fell to 8-13 and 1-4, respectively.
Homecoming ceremonies will be held Friday night at halftime of the UC-Dresden boys’ game.
UC 57, SF 20 (B)
The streaking Tornadoes, who challenged every pass and SF attempt at the bucket, turned in arguably their best defensive effort of the season in smothering the Redmen from the opening tip.
Union City built a twin-digit lead (16-5) with the contest barely five minutes old on the first of two Monroe 3-pointers. Monroe had eight of his markers in that opening frame, as did Brooks, who also canned a pair of treys.
Ahead 21-7 at the first-quarter horn, UC ran off 10 straight points and held the visitors scoreless while continuing to extend its dominance in the second frame. Back-to-back Monroe deuces and another at the buzzer by Brooks completed another flurry that had the Twisters up 41-10 at the intermission.
Kail made his second and third triples in the second stanza and had all 11 of his points in the first half.
Head coach Shane Sisco pulled his starters midway through the third quarter, but the margin continued to widen – standing at 42 points (56-14) at the end of the period as the clock ran continuously.
SF, which battled UC to the finish before losing an earlier meeting 60-55, fell to 6-11 overall and 1-3 in the district.
SF 59, UC 33 (G)
The Lady Twisters struggled offensively in all facets and had a hard time stopping Gray, who outscored UC 18-15 in the first half.
Union City dug an immediate 10-2 hole before briefly cutting that deficit to 12-9. It was still close (19-15) early in the second period before the Devilettes posted a dozen unanswered points to grab a commanding 31-15 halftime lead.
The Tornado girls made just two field goals in both the first and second frames.
UC never seriously threatened in the second half.
Sh’Nyla Moss had 10 points to lead Union City and was the only Lady Twister to score in double figures.