By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
MURFREESBORO – The end of Union City’s season will undoubtedly leave a sour taste in the mouths of Tornado players and legions of Purple and Gold faithful.
It should in no way take away any of the sweetness of an otherwise magical campaign, though.
An 85-53 loss to Chattanooga Prep in the Class 1A state quarterfinals Wednesday brought down the curtain on UC’s 2023-24 campaign at the Murphy Center.
It was a year that saw the Twisters win 17 consecutive games coming into the tourney, make the program’s first state appearance in nine years, and produce a Mr. Basketball finalist in senior sensation Malaki Brooks.
Head coach Shane Sisco spoke fondly of his squad and the lasting memories he’ll treasure after a somber postgame press conference.
“I’m disappointed for our kids because it’s such a great group,” the Tornado skipper claimed. “They worked so hard and did everything we asked of them. We came here with the intention of bringing home the gold ball, and I hated that we’re not going to do that for them.
”Still, they left their mark.”
UC (29-6) never led in Wednesday’s contest that was dominated by physical defensive play – especially by the rugged and athletic Sentinels.
Running two and sometimes three defenders at Brooks most every time he had the ball, CP (25-6) forced the Twisters into an uncharacteristic 23 turnovers that resulted in 30 points for the Chattanooga team.
Union City cut a double-figure deficit to 32-28 at the half when Brooks buried a long step-back 3-pointer but committed turnovers on three of four early third-quarter possessions and never got closer.
Things took a decided turn for the worse for the Tornadoes when Sisco was hit with a technical foul – the first of three on UC in the second half – with his team down by eight points and with possession of the ball with 2:47 left in the third stanza.
“Some of the things that happened in the second half were out of character for us, and it started with my technical,” Sisco said. “Mali (Brooks) got trapped in front of our bench, and we got a timeout called, and their (Prep) kids came through our huddle. I asked the official if he could please stop them from coming through our huddle. I didn’t see anything wrong with my question or the way I asked it.
“I’m not trying to get a technical foul down eight with the ball. It went downhill after that, though.”
Prep outscored the Twisters 39-15 the rest of the way, continuing their defensive assault and blistering shooting. For the game, the Sentinels shot 62.5 percent, including 73 percent in the second half. UC shot just 34 percent (14-of-41, including 5-of-23 (21.7 percent) from 3-point range.
“I didn’t think we were allowed to be as physical as they were defensively,” Sisco replied to a question about the game’s physicality. “The game was very physical. It limited us. And we had trouble getting to spots and getting downhill because of their physicality.
“They threw the ball over our heads on our press, and we were afraid of that coming in because of their size. And offensively, they made threes like I’ve not seen them do this year, forcing us to spread out, which opened passing lanes for them. Their length really bothered us when we had the ball.”
Brooks — who went over 1,000 for the season with his 37-point total — made 19-of-25 from the free throw line, four 3-pointers, and three deuces. Ben Kail (7 points and a team-high 6 rebounds) was the only other Tornado to sink more than one field goal.
Sisco took a few extra moments to share thoughts on each of Union City’s four seniors.
“These seniors, the COVID year was their freshman year, so they sort of got behind because we weren’t able to practice the summer of their freshman year. They got behind a little, but they had a great work ethic and made this season possible with what they did and what they were willing to do,” he said.
“Jack (Tully), the improvements he made were tremendous. He just continued to work, even when he wasn’t playing a lot earlier in the season. He became a big factor around the basket. Joe (Lattus) developed the ability to do things other than shoot the 3-pointer. He improved so much defensively, too, especially when we asked him to guard in the post later in the season.
“C.J. (Davis), he was our emotional leader. He’s firey and wears his feelings on his sleeve. He got us jump-started so many times and always drew the other teams’ best offensive player.
“And I don’t know what else can be said about Malaki (Brooks). Not one time did he react to everything that went on tonight with their defense. That speaks volumes to what type of kid he is. He led by example every day, and he’s one of the best I’ve had the opportunity to coach here.”