By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–All good things must eventually come to an end.
A Union City boys’ basketball team that won the District 13A Tournament championship, then made a surprising run to the regional title, saw its season come to a close with a 41-28 loss to visiting MAHS (Memphis Academy of Health Sciences) in the Class 1A sectionals Monday night.
The Golden Tornadoes, who also claimed the regular season district championship and appeared in the program’s 21st all-time sectional/substate game, also recorded 20 or more victories for the ninth straight year in finishing the 2019-20 campaign with a 23-11 slate.
Out-athleted many times against their toughest competition in a season that saw eight of UC’s losses come vs. teams from high classification or out-of-state foes, the Twisters simply ran up against another one of those more-talented opponents Monday night.
The Lions suffocated Union City with their defensive pressure, contesting every shot and harassing each attempted drive toward the basket. The Tornadoes shot just 28 percent (11-of-39) and made just six field goals while scoring but 14 points over the first three quarters.
Only three UC players scored in the game, with Ben McMillan accounting for the overwhelming majority of the offense with 19 points.
The Twisters’ lone lead of the contest came when McMillan bottomed one of his four 3-pointers 78 seconds into the contest for the first points of the game.
“Defensively, they took us out of everything we wanted to do,” a somber Union City head coach Shane Sisco said following the season-ending loss. “They were athletic, they had good size, and tonight, they were a better basketball team.
“Our kids have nothing to be ashamed of, though. We obviously wanted to take the next step, but to have won the district and regional and earned a home sectional game with a group that had a work ethic that was often-times the difference in us beating more talented teams is just a testament to them. I’ve said before that they probably weren’t as talented as some of our past groups, but they were coachable and they just weren’t going to be outworked.”
MAHS (21-8) had superior quickness, more length and also held a decided 27-12 difference in rebounding.
A 14-2 surge during which UC had just one bucket over an eight-minute span from midway through the first quarter to halfway through the second put the visitors essentially in control for the rest of the night.
It was 20-9 at the half and 28-14 with three periods in the book before the Purple and Gold gave the capacity crowd at Marty Sisco Gymnasium some signs of hope.
Down twice by as many as 17 points, the Twisters got within 32-22 with 3:02 to play on Kaler Bobo’s driving 3-point play. McMillan then shaved three more off that difference with a deep triple that made it 32-25 with 2:28 to go before Robert Mitchell made six straight free throws for the Lions to end any further suspense while UC was unable to connect on three consecutive possessions.
“At the end of the day, it falls on me that I couldn’t get us better spacing and create better looks for our guys,” Sisco added. “They did a really good job on both Ben and Bobo. I thought if we could get penetration that we’d get some open shots for some people but they never left their man and those folks weren’t open. And their size and athleticism inside really affected us too.
“Still, we kept playing hard and gave ourselves a chance there in the last few minutes. We battled to the very end.”
The game was the last in a UCHS uniform for seniors Bobo, Nick Sanders, Nolan Wilson, Sam Theobald and Hudson Calfee.
“That group just led by example,” concluded Sisco, who also lauded the school’s outstanding student pep club for their loyalty throughout the season. “Nick was the very first one on the floor every day. Sam and Nolan were the last to leave almost every day. Kaler worked so hard to improve by leaps and bounds from where he started and Hud (Calfee) gave us everything he had.
“They’re all good kids, but they’re better people. I guarantee they’ll all be productive people in society after they graduate.”
MAHS will advance to the Class 1A state tournament with a 21-8 mark.
CLASS 1A
BOYS’ SECTIONAL
MAHS — 41
David Dixon 14, Robert Mitchell 11, Dylan Woods 11, Berkley 3, Elam 2.
UNION CITY — 28
Ben McMillan 19, Kaler Bobo 7, Sam Theobald 2.
MAHS 8 12 8 13 — 41
Union City 5 4 5 14 — 28
Records: MAHS 21-8; Union City 23-11.
Next Game: UC’s season ends
Photo by Mike Hutchens.