By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Mason Storey saw past the final score when evaluating Union City’s bitter 44-40 loss to Greenfield in the District 14A girls’ semifinals Thursday night.
“I’m super proud of them no matter what the scoreboard says,” the Lady Tornado head coach claimed after his troops rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to tie the game before falling just short at the end. “Our intensity level was phenomenal. We were relentless from start to finish, and we showed a tremendous amount of heart.
“There’s still a lot of basketball to be played, and I truly believe we can make some noise moving forward.”
The loss bumps UC (14-15) to Saturday night’s 6 o’clock tourney consolation game, where they’ll look to beat Gleason (15-13) for the third time this season.
The Lady Tornadoes will then play at either Humboldt or Middleton in the Region 7A quarterfinals next Friday (Feb. 23).
Displaying grit, toughness, and a never-say-die attitude, Union City climbed out of a 32-18 third-quarter hole to draw even at 36 on a pair of Kennedi Robinson free throws with just under seven minutes to play Thursday against Greenfield.
The Twister girls ended the third frame on a 14-4 run to get within 36-32, highlighted by a 3-pointer by La’Kiyah Gordon and an old-fashioned 3-point play by a slashing Sh’Nyla Moss.
Debrionna Jones halved that difference with a power move in the lane before Robinson’s charities tied the game and capped a surge of 10 unanswered points.
Anastyn Vujicic gave Greenfield the lead back with the last of her four 3-pointers a minute later, and the Jackets went back up by five (41-36) as UC could manage but one bucket over a six-minute stretch.
A steal and a hoop by Moss with 19 seconds to play drew the Lady Tornadoes within 42-40. Union City then had two chances to pull even but failed to convert before Jayleigh Bowers knocked down two foul shots with two seconds remaining to seal the Twisters’ fate.
“It’s a tremendous confidence booster that we didn’t lay down and never gave up,” Story continued. “We overcame a lot of adversity and gave ourselves a chance at the end.
“I thought we played freely and were not tight at any point. There were a ton of positive signs, despite the outcome.”
UC trailed 13-11 after one, and 28-18 at halftime.
Moss led the Lady Tornadoes with 14 points, with Jones finishing with 10.