By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–The fourth meeting of the season between the Union City and Lake County girls looked a lot like the other three.
For the Lady Tornadoes, that was good news.
UC cruised into the District 14A semifinals and earned a berth in the regional tournament with another convincing rout of the Lady Falcons Monday night – whipping LC 61-28 at Marty Sisco Gymnasium.
The third-seeded Twister girls (14-14) will now meet No. 2 Greenfield (17-9) in the second of two semis on Thursday night at 7:30 at South Fulton High School. The two teams split a pair of regular season contests, each winning at home.
Union City will then play in either the championship or consolation game Saturday at SFHS before advancing to the Region 7A tourney on Feb. 23.
With three victories of 15 points or more against Lake County prior to Monday’s district elimination game, the Lady Tornadoes followed a similar script in ending Lake County’s season.
Runs of 20-4 in the second quarter and 12-1 to open the third period – both fueled by UC’s full-court pressure defense – accounted for the large separation between the two squads.
The Twister girls featured a balanced attack, highlighted by six girls scoring five or more points. Sh’Nyla Moss led all scorers with 16 points, while ever-steady Marlee Theobald added a dozen markers to pace the victors. Debrionna Jones and Blair McKinnis finished with eight apiece.
“We did have several girls contribute, and when we can get five or six girls with two or three baskets apiece and get our usual production out of our top scorers, we can be a really good basketball team offensively,” first-year Union City head coach Mason Storey said afterward.
“I thought our girls were able to grind when shots weren’t falling early, and we guarded them well. We had two really good days of practice and preparation, and I think that showed.”
Kennedi Robinson’s 3-pointer ignited UC’s first-half surge. Twice Theobald – who hit 6-of-6 free throws – converted two old-fashion 3-point plays during the spurt that helped the Purple and Gold to a 32-16 halftime advantage.
Moss drained a pair of the Lady Twisters’ eight triples in the third frame as the lead expanded to 27 (44-17) with less than two minutes showing in the quarter.
Moss and LaKiyah Gordon connected from downtown in the early stages of the final stanza to prompt a mercy-rule running clock, and Tornado reserves finished the blowout.
“Even though we’d beaten them three times earlier, we talked about how they’d narrowed the gap from the first game to the second and the second to the third,” Storey said of his team’s approach. “We were focused on the task at hand and never put ourselves behind the eight-ball.”
Lake County finished its season with a 5-19 worksheet.