By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City went 1-1 against Humboldt in a pair of close games to open its 2024-25 high school basketball season.
The Lady Tornadoes came out on the winning end of a 41-34 final Tuesday night, while the UC boys battled gamely to the final buzzer before dropping a 65-61 decision to the Vikings.
The Twisters continue a busy first week with two more Hall of Champions matchups this week – Thursday night at Trenton and Saturday afternoon vs. South Gibson County at UT Martin.
Union City’s effort was plenty good in their respective season openers. The Lady Tornadoes were able to overcome typical first-game execution challenges, but the Twister boys fell victim to those same issues despite a gritty performance.
UC – which played without inside ace Derionna Jones (concussion) – never trailed in the opener but could never comfortably put away the visitors. The Tornado girls held H’boldt to one first-half field goal and then made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 93 seconds to hold off a Lady Viking rally.
Uriah Davis and Alli McMillan sank a pair of charities apiece, and Kennedi Robinson hit one to secure the Twister victory.
In the boys’ game, the Twisters’ max effort was nearly enough to overcome their inexperience and a typically athletic Viking squad.
Union City cut a 15-point second-half deficit to a deuce with the aid of Ben Kail’s old-fashioned 3-point play, a triple by Kobe Maddox, and Kwinton Purifoy’s follow shot that made it 61-59 with 1:50 to go.
The Tornadoes couldn’t convert in the final stretch, though, making just one more bucket – that a Kail layup with the margin at six and just 10 seconds to play.
UC 41, Humboldt 34 (G)
The Lady Tornadoes could never find any consistent offensive rhythm but managed enough to beat the Vikings in a ruggedly-played contest.
Sh’Nyla Moss made three of Union City’s four 3-pointers – including one to start the third quarter and another to end the period to help the Twister girls to a 26-17 lead heading down the stretch.
UC’s largest lead was 36-22 with 2:17 to play after Blair McKinnis converted a putback and a drive to the bucket, then dished a nice feed to Davis for a hoop.
Moss finished with a game-high 15 points, while McKinnis added nine.
Humboldt 65, UC 61 (B)
The Tornado boys showed tremendous determination in coming back and battling to the wire in a rematch of last year’s regional championship game.
UC overcame 11 first-half turnovers and 19 for the game, turning up the heat itself against the Vikings while forcing 20 floor mistakes.
Kail had 17 of his team-best 24 points in the second half, including 11 in the fourth quarter for the Tornadoes. Freshman Hollister Johnson had a solid high school debut, netting half his 12 markers in the third frame as part of the Twisters’ 40-30 advantage over the final two periods.
Kenny Moss and JaMarious Abbott had key buckets to help Union City’s comeback down the stretch.