By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Union City’s path to Murfreesboro and the boys’ state tournament will have to go through Pulaski.
The Golden Tornadoes’ 58-44 Region 6-2A championship loss to Gibson County Thursday in Camden means UC will travel to Giles County for Monday’s Class 2A sectional game. The Bobcats whipped Fairview 61-41 in the Region 5 title tilt Thursday to earn host rights for the 7 p.m. sectional contest.
The two programs have some history in the Round of 16, having previously played then-substate games in 1978 and ’81. The Twisters won the second of those two meetings on their homecourt, 57-47, after GC triumphed three years earlier at Centerville 75-61. UC is 11-11 all-time in sectional/substate games and will be making its 23rd appearance in the postseason round.
Giles County (23-8) will come into Monday’s contest winners of 17 straight games, while Union City is 12-19. The winner will advance to the Class 2A State Tournament, Mar. 16-18, at Middle Tennessee State University.
The Tornadoes were forced to plan a long road trip after losing for the third time in four meetings vs. Gibson County Thursday.
As in their two previous setbacks vs. the Pioneers, UC was overmatched inside, where Ethan Turner powered his way to 17 points while helping his team to a significant advantage on the offensive glass. GC also got another 17 markers from guard Matthew Reynolds who hit 10-of-11 free throws for a team that made 19-of-23 in all.
On the offensive end, the Twisters never found the rhythm they’d shown in their previous two outings – blowouts of Hickman County and Milan.
The Purple and Gold made just one field goal in the second quarter after leading 11-7 late in the opening frame and went more than eight minutes without a point from late in the first period until late in the second.
“We had some opportunities – both early and late – but we just didn’t convert like we had been doing,” Union City head coach Shane Sisco said afterward. “We were a little slow out of the gate… maybe it was a hangover from Tuesday’s big win. Then, we missed three layups there in the fourth quarter when we had a chance to put some pressure on them.
“The bottom line is their two best players had 34 of their 58 points. We said coming in that we couldn’t allow that to happen. Once again, I’m not sure what the exact margin was, but they just dominated us on the boards. And when you add what they did at the free throw line, it was just too much for us to overcome.”
Union City looked to be poised to continue its recent hot streak early, taking an 8-2 lead on two buckets by Jaylen Lewis and a drive by D.J. Robinson as GC missed eight of its first nine shots. A Joseph Lattus triple late in the stanza had the Twisters up 11-10 at the first-quarter horn.
Starting with a Reynolds 3-pointer in the final seconds of the first frame, though, the Pioneers scored 12 unanswered points while Union City was going through a lengthy point-less spell. The difference grew to as much as 19-11 before Malaki Brooks scored the Tornadoes’ lone bucket of the quarter.
It was 21-13 at the intermission.
UC showed some signs of life to begin the second half, with Robinson scoring on three consecutive drives to the hoop that sliced a double-digit deficit to 26-21. Turner answered for Gibson County, however, scoring seven points to rebuild the difference to twin figures.
A pair of Ben Kail treys kept the Twisters within striking distance, and Union City was as close as 39-34 after Robinson bottomed a 3-pointer with still more than six minutes remaining. However, the Pioneers’ near-flawless foul line exhibition and a handful of missed chances by the Tornadoes sealed GC’s win.
Gibson County was 13-of-15 from the charity stripe in the final stanza, with Reynolds perfect in six trips.
“If we could’ve ever got it to a two-possession game, maybe things would’ve been different,” Sisco added. “The second-chance points we gave up were just too much, and when we did make them turn it over, we didn’t capitalize.”
Robinson ended up with a team-high 16 points, with Kail chipping in with 11 and Lewis finishing with 10. Robinson, Lattus and Brooks were all selected to the all-tournament team in postgame ceremonies.
While Monday’s long road trip will be daunting, winning is not an impossible task, according to the Tornado skipper.
“We’ve had our back against the wall most of the year. This is just another obstacle to where we want to be,” Sisco concluded.
“During the last three weeks, we’ve won three in a row, lost, then won another three in a row and lost tonight. If we can win another three in a row, we will be playing for a state championship March 18.”
Gibson County improved to 21-9 with the win.