By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–For Union City fans, it was well worth the wait.
Every. Single. Second.
Fueled by a wildly enthusiastic sellout Purple and Gold throng that began arriving nearly three hours before tip-off, the Golden Tornadoes blew out Booker T. Washington 77-45 in the Class 1A Sectionals Monday night at Marty Sisco Gymnasium.
The win sends second-ranked UC (29-5) to the state tournament for the 20th time in the decorated history of the boys’ program, where it will face No. 7 Chattanooga Prep (25-7) in a quarterfinal game Mar. 13 at 4 p.m. on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University.
The Twisters last made the Big Dance in 2015 when they finished as runners-up. Union City will be gunning for its sixth state championship – having won 2A titles in 1990, 92, and 97, and Single-A crowns in 2006 and 08.
Monday night’s pro-Tornado crowd was engaged from the beginning and spurred Union City to its second-largest sectional/substate victory in 24 all-time games and 17th straight triumph this year.
“Our crowd was tremendous. They were in on every play from the opening tip,” UC head coach Shane Sisco insisted following the win. “We’ve talked for years about how much of an advantage it is to play at home at this level, and that was quite obvious tonight.
“And our kids were loose. They were attentive in our walk-thru today, and it was just nice to be able to stay in routine with playing at home. Our play exemplified that, and our shooting was an advantage that you expect to have on your own floor.”
The Twisters’ ‘Big 3’ of Malaki Brooks, Ben Kail, and Joseph Lattus collectively brought their A+ Game to lead UC to its runaway victory – its 11th by 30 or more points this season.
The trio combined for 67 of Union City’s 77 points, including all 12 of the winners’ 3-pointers.
Brooks, the Tornadoes’ electric Mr. Basketball finalist, eclipsed the 30-point mark for the 15th time this year with a game-high 36. The slender scoring machine nailed five treys, six deuces, and 9-of-11 from the foul line in his latest jaw-dropping performance.
Kail – ever steady all season, but especially in the tournaments – hit for 17, including three triples and three hard slashes to the bucket in the fourth quarter when he scored eight of his final total.
Lattus, clutch in the Twisters’ biggest games this year, again shined with four timely 3-pointers on his way to a 14-point night.
“Those three have been good all year, and they were phenomenal tonight,” Sisco continued. “They are not intimidated by the big stage nor high-stakes games, and it’s tough for a team to defend them all. Once we got things rolling, it just snowballed.
“I thought (Jack) Tully (eight points, six rebounds) also did a great job battling their 6-7 kid inside. When he got in foul trouble, Kenny Moss came on and gave us some quality minutes. And C.J. (Davis) was again our guy, out front on the defensive end.”
A 22-3 run after they trailed 14-10 that included a run of 13 unanswered points propelled UC to a comfortable 32-17 halftime lead.
Lattus drained a pair of trifectas, Kail bottomed another, and Brooks scored on two possessions for the Twisters, who created several opportunities for themselves by forcing seven BTW turnovers.
The gap continued to widen immediately after the intermission, with Tully providing a nice inside presence with a pair of hoops and Brooks accounting for nine markers to make it 55-32 heading into the final frame.
A 10-2 flurry in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter gave the contest official ‘blow-out’ status. Kail drove strong to the bucket, and Brooks hit a 3-pointer and a 2-pointer to highlight the run. Brooks then canned consecutive treys inside the two-minute mark to put an exclamation point on the victory.
“I think the thing with this group is they’ve gotten much better in the last couple of months at making in-game adjustments,” Sisco continued. “We still hang our hats on our defense, and we forced them into 15 turnovers in the first half. We allowed just one offensive rebound in the first half and stopped their penetration – those were two points of emphasis coming in.
“The other thing was, we didn’t turn it over much ourselves.”
Looking ahead, the coach said his team would use the next several days to ready itself for a tough Chattanooga Prep squad.
“The good news is, we get six days to prepare for them,” Sisco concluded. “For a team of their caliber, that’s good. They have good size and a couple of really good guards. They appear to be playing very well right now, and we’ll need our best effort against them.
“Right now, though, we’re going to enjoy this one. I’m extremely proud of this group. This makes the fifth time in the last nine years of playing in the sectional round, and we finally got over the hump tonight.”
BTW ends its season at 11-14.