By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Union City’s girls won both the battle and the war against Middleton.
Scrapping their way through a physically played contest that sometimes resembled hand-to-hand combat, UC advanced to the Region 7A semifinals with a hard-fought 46-40 victory over the Lady Tigers Friday night at Middleton.
The Lady Tornadoes (16-15) – winners of eight of their last 10 and playing arguably their best ball of the 2023-24 season – will now face Greenfield (20-9) for a fourth time this year, Monday at 6 p.m. at UT Martin with a berth in the regional championship and a sectional trip to the victor.
G’field has won two of the previous three meetings with Union City this season by three and four points, respectively. The Twister girls beat the Lady ‘Jackets by four in the final week of the regular season.
UC’s trademark scratch-and-claw rugged style was on full display and much-needed Friday against Middleton, which relied on a similar plan of attack but saw its season end with an 18-6 record.
The Twisters’ grittiness, in fact, fueled a run of 10 unanswered points in the third quarter that turned a one-point deficit into a 33-24 lead. Union City led the rest of the way and made a couple of clinching plays at critical times in the final four minutes to seal its victory.
Kennedi Robinson sank a couple of clutch shots during that critical flurry that was fueled by three forced turnovers and a blocked shot by Debrionna Jones on the defensive end.
Then, clinging to a 37-33 advantage with just under five minutes to play after missing a handful of free throws in a row, Ada Rogers alertly fed Blair McKinnis for a much-needed layup after beating pressure. Three possessions later, Jones converted a key stickback for a deuce to make it 41-35 with 2:18 to go.
UC salted away the game in the final 28 seconds when Robinson dished off to Uriah Davis underneath for a score, and Sh’Nyla Moss snatched a steal and converted on the offensive end to make it 46-38 with 10 ticks left.
“That grittiness on the defensive end during that run in the third quarter, that’s who we are,” a proud Union City head coach Mason Storey said immediately after the game. “It was physical. It was tough. It was postseason basketball, and we did not flinch.
“During that big run, we were able to get Deb (Jones) some touches early in the quarter, and that opened the floor for some others to have opportunities and good looks.
“The two big plays down the stretch were just reaction plays. We were reeling a little bit, and our girls just did what came naturally and what we’ve been coached to do all year. They’re finally learning the game of basketball, and it translated into two very timely baskets.”
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with the Lady Tornadoes leading by four twice in the opening stanza before Middleton ran off eight consecutive markers to go up 16-8. A critical 3-pointer by Jayla Turner just before the first-quarter horn shaved the difference to three points, and a Jones hoop in the last minute of the second frame represented the last of five lead changes and sent UC to the intermission break up 23-22.
Moss was a demon in the open court for the Twisters and finished with a game-high 17 points. Jones also reached double-digits with 10 points.
Middleton, which hit its first nine foul shots over the first two quarters, cooled considerably from the line in the second half – successful on just 6-of-14.
Storey said his troops would relish the challenge of a fourth matchup against Greenfield with high stakes.
“Those first three have all gone down to the wire, and I expect another close and tough game,” the UC coach insisted. “It’ll be a completely different style than what we saw tonight, and we’ll tweak some things and do some others differently from those other games.
“I don’t know what more you can ask for than playing for a sectional berth and a spot in the region championship. We’re playing with a lot of confidence, and I’m excited for our kids to have this opportunity.”