By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
With four of five starters returning from last year’s regional semifinal team, the Union City girls will enter the 2024-25 season with great expectations.
Lofty goals, meanwhile, will remain the focus of the tradition-rich Tornado boys despite heavy graduation losses from last year.
Set to open their respective seasons Tuesday night, UC’s two squads share the same aspirations of a deep postseason run.
“We had big expectations last year, too, and we came up just one play short,” said Mason Storey, who returns arguably the top two players in the district this year in Debrionna Jones and Sh’Nyla Moss for his second season at the Lady Tornado helm.
“I think the girls took that to heart. We’ve set some lofty goals for the upcoming season, and they’ve done the work in the offseason to make that a real possibility. We’ve gotten a lot stronger. We look more athletic. And we’ve put in a shooting program that has benefitted us at several positions.
“Hopefully, all of that will set us up for something special and a deep postseason run.”
The UC boys — with a widely decorated history that includes five state championships — will not alter expectations despite losing four starters to graduation. Included among that quartet was Mr. Basketball finalist Malaki Brooks. Gone also are No. 2 scorer Joseph Lattus, defensive specialist C.J. Davis, and big man Jack Tully.
“Our expectations are always to win the district title and be playing our best basketball when it matters most in February,” claimed Shane Sisco, the winningest coach in school history heading into his 26th season with 574 victories. “This year is no different.
“We’re going to look a lot different from what we looked last year, and we’ll look a lot different from Nov. 19 when we open the season until we begin the district tournament in February. In fact, I believe we’ll be much improved from the start of the year until early January when we begin district play.”
Both coaches will put their teams up against a demanding pre-district schedule, hoping to ready them for top-flight competition come tourney time.
Among Union City’s foes in the first two months of the season are South Gibson County, Dyer County, Milan, Trinity Christian Academy, and Gibson County. The two programs will also participate in multiple holiday events against solid competition.
“We have an extremely difficult schedule,” confirmed Sisco, who regularly pairs his teams against more athletic and stronger competition. “We always want to play a competitive schedule, no matter who we bring back.”
Storey concurred.
“Just the physicality and the athleticism we’ll see in our non-district games, those are the types of opponents who’ll prepare us for who we’ll see in February and March,” the coach said.
Union City opens its 2024-25 Tuesday night at home against Humboldt.
LADY TORNADOES
Jones and Moss give the UC girls the perfect inside-outside duo, headlining a squad that looks to build off last year’s 16-win season.
The former – a 5-11 senior post with a handful of scholarship offers – is a beast inside, capable of competing in rugged environments and stepping away from the bucket with a soft touch. She was the Lady Tornadoes’ top rebounder and No. 2 scorer to Moss last year.
Moss proved unstoppable at times after bursting on the prep scene as a freshman a season ago. Equally adept at shooting from the outside and driving to the bucket, she led UC in scoring and continued to see her stock rise with a promising summer.
Senior Kennedi Robinson will play a key role in running the point for the team. A good passer and defender, Robinson has improved her offensive game, too, according to Storey.
Sophomore Blair McKinnis has been called “a Swiss army knife” by her coach – referring to her abilities to do many things well. Tough and gritty, she’ll be looked upon to fill a variety of roles.
Uriah Davis (Soph.), LaKiyah Gordon (Jr.), and Jayla Turner (Sr.) all also must play well for the Lady Tornadoes to reach their potential. Davis truly has the ability to be a difference-maker, according to Storey, who praised the work ethic of Gordon and Turner.
Freshman Alli McMillan should provide instant offense with her shooting prowess, with her brightest days on the horizon with more experience.
“We obviously have a strong 1-2 punch with Debs (Jones) and Sh’Nyla (Moss),” Storey concluded. “And I look at players like Kennedi (Robinson) who has played a lot of minutes and has really been steady, and (Blair) McKinnis, who will flat-out get after you, as players who’ll make a difference with us. Both Uriah (Davis) and LaKiya (Gordon) are going to be critical to any success we have, too.
“I think we’re going to be able to play multiple styles, and that should help us, no matter who we play. More than anything, I believe we’re going to play hard every night out. When you do that, you always give yourself a chance.”
TORNADOES
With the multi-talented Brooks and his running mates having graduated from last year’s 29-6 team that made it to the state tournament before losing to eventual champion Chattanooga Prep, the UC boys will be in somewhat of a rebuilding mode.
Still, some names of several returnees will be familiar to Purple and Gold fans.
Seniors Ben Kail, Finn Frankum, Tayehari Jones, DeAngelo Monroe, and Kenny Moss all saw varying degrees of playing time a year ago when the Tornadoes used a deep roster to win a dozen games via the mercy rule.
Other than Kail, however, the rest of that group – along with juniors Tayshun Gentry and Adrian Crawford and sophomores Zak Summers and D.J. Evans – will take on different roles of importance this year.
“It’s probably the oldest group we’ve ever had with the least amount of experience,” Sisco said. “They did get some experience last year, and it’s a good core group of kids, but they’ll be asked to do some different things this year.
“We’ll have to play the pressing style that we used at times last year much more this season to create opportunities on the offensive end. There will be more preparation involved than in the past years. We’ll have to play several more people to see where each player fits, and our rotation will take time because we have a handful of kids who are still involved with our football program.”
Kail will be the go-to guy offensively, at least early. He became a reliable scorer from both the perimeter and on the move as a junior, finishing last year as the team’s third-best offensive option most nights.
Gentry has had a good preseason camp, as has senior Jamarious Abbott. Monroe has the ability to be a solid perimeter scorer, and Frankum and Jones are strong defenders with potential offensively.
Moss will be looked to for physicality inside but can also shoot. And freshman Hollister Johnson has a ton of potential, according to Sisco, but needs seasoning.
“This bunch has worked extremely hard in the offseason and they want to be good,” the coach concluded. “There’s a fine line between them understanding what the end goal is and not getting frustrated with some early season results.
“Again, our most important games won’t be played until January and February. The big key is to remain positive until then, no matter the results of our first 16 or 18 games. I believe we’ll be a lot better team at the end of the season than we are at the first of the year, and that’s when you always want to be playing your best basketball.”