By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City put an exclamation mark on its unbeaten romp through District 14A.
The Golden Tornado boys completed a run of 10 straight league victories with a convincing 67-21 drubbing of South Fulton Thursday night. The 46-point margin of victory was UC’s largest of the season and capped a perfect district stretch that saw the Purple and Gold win its 14A outings by an average of 26.8 points per game.
Winners of 10 in a row and 12 of their last 13 games, the Twisters improved to 15-11 overall heading into tonight’s regular-season finale at Henry County. The Patriots were the last team to beat Union City, doing so on Jan. 7 by a 69-51 count.
The Union City girls were also impressive winners on Thursday, rolling over the outmanned Lady Red Devils 47-8.
UC (19-8, 8-2) bounced back from a Tuesday loss at Greenfield to finish the regular season in a first-place tie with the Lady ‘Jackets and Dresden. The Tornado girls lost a coin flip, however, and will be the No. 3 seed in the upcoming district tournament.
Union City limited SF (1-18, 0-9) to just two field goals and a season low in points.
Both Tornado teams begin postseason play next week, the girls hosting either South Fulton or Lake County on Monday night at 6:30. The top-seed UC boys won’t play until Saturday (Feb. 22) in the first of two semifinals against an undetermined opponent at 7 p.m. on the campus of Bethel University in McKenzie.
BOYS
UC 67, South Fulton 21
Easily the class of the district, the Tornadoes removed any doubt with a blowout of a SF team they’d earlier beaten by 20 points.
Union City established its dominance early, getting a pair of 3-pointers by Zak Summers, another from DeAngelo Monroe, and a transition dunk from Hollister Johnson to build a double-digit lead (17-5) with the game barely five minutes old.
Ahead 20-6 at the first-quarter horn, the Twisters built on that advantage by contesting every Red Devil pass and shot with waves of defensive pressure. Kenny Moss had 10 of his 14 first-half points in the second period, and UC forced 14 turnovers over the first two frames to build a commanding 39-15 lead at the intermission.
An 18-2 third-quarter flurry that featured 3-pointers by Kail brothers, Ben and Will, put into motion a running clock with the difference standing at 57-17 with still a quarter to play.
Both teams played their youngest of reserves over the final eight minutes.
Ben Kail and Johnson joined Moss in twin figures with 10 apiece, while Will Kail tacked on eight markers.
GIRLS
UC 47, South Fulton 8
A 22-3 third-quarter run by the Lady Tornadoes put the finishing touches on their rout of a young SF squad.
Sh’Nyla Moss (10 points) and Uriah Davis (8) combined to lead UC’s onslaught immediately after halftime. Davis knocked down a pair of triples in the first four minutes, and Moss – a demon defensively – scored on three consecutive possessions to stretch the margin to 41-7 before the Twister starters took a seat on the bench.
Alaja Crawford capped the victory with three stickback buckets in the fourth quarter while the clock ran continuously due to the mercy rule.
Moss led the victors with 17 points, while Davis finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.