By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–The Union City boys have seemingly found their groove.
And it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Playing arguably their most complete game of the season, the Tornadoes won for the fifth time in their last six games and advanced to the Region 6-2A Tournament semifinals with a convincing 55-28 rout of Hickman County Saturday night.
UC (11-18) will now play Milan (21-7) for the fourth time this season – Tuesday night at 7:30 at Camden High School. A berth in the regional finals and a spot in the sectionals is at stake.
The Twisters will be looking for their first win against the Bulldogs, having dropped previous games by three, seven, and 10 points.
The Purple and Gold has gotten hot at the most critical juncture of the season and will ride a wave of momentum into Tuesday’s contest after impressively blowing out the Bulldogs Saturday.
Union City had runs of 11 unanswered points in the first quarter after a slow start, then put in 12 in a row in the second period to take a commanding 26-4 lead over the outmanned host team.
The Tornadoes made five 3-pointers in each half – Joseph Lattus hitting four of those – and collectively shot the ball with supreme confidence after missing their first six shots and not scoring until the first stanza was half over.
It was UC’s stellar man defense that was the tone-setter, though, as the Twisters challenged every HC pass and harassed the Bulldogs into a bushel of turnovers in the first half when Union City seized control.
Quicker and more athletic at all positions, the Tornadoes did not allow Hickman County to break into double figures until 1:55 remained before intermission.
“After watching film, we felt like we needed to apply pressure, and we felt like if we could force them into 15 or 20 turnovers, we’d have a good shot (to win),” Tornado head coach Shane Sisco said. “We were really aggressive from the opening tip and played with a great sense of urgency on the defensive end. The cold spell we had early didn’t affect us on defense like it has at times earlier this year.
“Then, once our shots started to fall, we really got into a groove. Since we’ve gotten Malaki (Brooks) back from injury, our other kids have been playing with more confidence. D.J. (Robinson) has really been relaxed and has been aggressively attacking the basket, and we now have multiple people we can throw it to who can make shots after penetration.”
Brooks broke the ice for UC with a bucket at 3:52 of the opening frame to begin a run of 11 straight markers. Robinson scored twice, and both Brooks and Lattus canned triples to make it 14-4 at the first-quarter horn.
Treys by Ben Kail and Lattus, a drive by Robinson, and a stickback by Lattus made up the Tornadoes’ run of a dozen straight points in the first three minutes of the second stanza.
Lattus, who led a balanced attack with 14 points, connected twice more from beyond the arc in the third frame – the second at the buzzer after Jack Tully kept possession on the Union City end with three offensive rebounds.
It was 44-18 after three and 49-20 with 3:31 to go when Sisco emptied his bench. Big man Davis Hayes had the highlight of the final minutes for the victors when he stepped out on the perimeter and bottomed a three-ball.
Robinson followed Lattus with 13 points, while Brooks totaled 12. Kail was just a deuce short of joining the Tornadoes’ list of double-figure scorers.
Getting past Milan now is the focus of UC.
“They’ve beaten us five times in a row dating back to last year, and it has all been predicated on how they’ve defended us,” Sisco added. “Our inability to get good shots against their defense has been a factor. It will all start with us making them guard us longer on every possession.
“We can’t be quick and take contested shots. We have to get good looks at the basket, and we have some things to clean up around the basket on the defensive end.”
Hickman County finished the season with a 10-15 mark.