By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City closed out the home portion of its regular season with a bang.
The Golden Tornadoes celebrated 10 seniors with a pair of District 14A routs of Lake County Tuesday night, winning the girls’ runaway 62-34 and the boys’ lopsided nightcap 80-41 at Marty Sisco Gymnasium.
It marked the sixth consecutive victory for the Lady Tornadoes (17-7, 6-1) and the seventh win in a row for the UC boys, who improved to 12-11 and 7-0, respectively.
Senior Night ceremonies honored Debrionna Jones, Kennedi Robinson, and Jayla Turner after Kenny Moss, Ben Kail, Finn Frankum, Tayehari Jones, Demarious Abbott, Kwinton Purifoy, and DeAngelo Monroe were earlier recognized.
There was no suspense in either game as Union City took control early and never looked back before getting playing time for every player on their roster.
The Tornadoes will close their regular season with four straight road games, beginning Friday with a trip to Gleason.
GIRLS
UC 62, Lake Co. 34
After winning an earlier meeting by 21 (72-51), the Lady Tornadoes took over sole possession of first place in the district with a second blowout of LC coupled with Dresden’s upset loss to Greenfield.
Jones had seven points in the opening frame, and Uriah Davis tallied eight in the second as UC used a pair of surges in each period to build a commanding 27-7 lead in the game’s first 12 minutes.
Alli McMillan’s 3-pointer was part of the Lady Tornadoes’ beginning 13-3 flurry, while Ainsley Sadler connected for a trey in the early stages of a 13-2 second-quarter run.
It was 33-15 at halftime and 47-23 with three periods in the book.
Jones and Davis led a balanced scoring attack for the victors with 15 points apiece, while Sh’Nyla Moss added a dozen.
BOYS
UC 80, LC 41
Surging Union City posted another convincing 14A triumph in the nightcap and now can clinch the regular season league championship and the top seed in the postseason tournament with one more victory.
The Tornadoes have won each of their district games by double-figure margins and by an average of more than 26 points per game.
Tuesday’s second triumph of the season vs. Lake County was more convincing than the first meeting (69-55) as the shorthanded Falcons were missing three players due to sickness.
Despite a dozen first-half turnovers, UC was dominant from the beginning. Abbott knocked down the first of his two opening-quarter 3-pointers on the Twisters’ first possession and Union City held a double-figure lead (19-9) on Finn Frankum’s bucket late in the first stanza.
Freshman Hollister Johnson had six markers in the second frame to help expand the difference to 37-20 at halftime before UC – using its smothering defensive pressure and superior depth – took over completely in the third period behind Ben Kail.
Kail, who hit three of the Tornadoes’ eight 3-pointers and one in each quarter, had 13 of his game-high 25 points in that third frame. He hit 8-of-9 free throws in the third quarter alone and made 12-of-13 overall.
It was 59-31 heading into the final eight minutes, and Union City reserves put the finishing touches on the blowout with a 21-10 flurry.
Zak Summers and Kobe Maddox had nine points apiece to contribute to the Tornado cause.