By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Things didn’t start well for the Union City girls against Westview.
They didn’t end well for the Tornado boys in the nightcap.
The end results were two losses for the UC teams in District 12-AA play Tuesday night, the Twister girls overwhelmed by the third-ranked Lady Chargers 53-16, and the Tornado boys allowing Martin to rally for a 48-43 win in Game 2.
The setbacks were the first in three league games for both Union City teams.
UC will celebrate homecoming Saturday night against Henry County.
BOYS
Westview 48, UC 43
The Tornadoes held nine-point leads on two occasions in the second half before a handful of costly turnovers in the fourth quarter fueled an 18-9 Westview rally.
UC (7-12 overall) played well until that stretch run, making enough shots and holding the Chargers without a field goal for over 12 minutes to build the largest cushion of the night by either team.
Buckets by D.J. Robinson on two different occasions in the early stages of the third period gave the Tornadoes advantages of 26-17 and 30-21, respectively.
The difference was 34-30 at the quarter’s end.
Union City’s untimely floor mistakes during the game’s most-critical time and just four made field goals in the final eight minutes proved to be the Twisters’ undoing.
The contest was tied at 16 at the first-quarter horn. The Tornadoes hit all three of their 3-pointers during that opening stanza – Skylar Mays, Ben Kail and Joseph Lattus each connecting from beyond the arc.
Despite making but three shots from the floor in the second frame, UC still did better than the host team, which could manage but a single free throw by Omarion Harris.
Robinson led all scorers in the contest with 16 points while teammate Jaylen Lewis pitched in nine. Seasonal leading scorer Malaki Brooks (23ppg) was limited to just four points.
GIRLS
Westview 53, UC 16
The Lady Chargers — in search of their 10th straight state tournament berth — dominated Union City from the opening tip, scoring the game’s first 13 points and holding the Lady Tornadoes without a single tally for the first 9½ minutes.
UC finally got on the board with an Amari Bonds bucket and briefly cut the deficit under double figures via Sophie Theobald’s 3-pointer.
It was all Martin after that, though, as the Lady Chargers (16-2, 2-0) ran off another 13 straight to stretch their lead to 26-5.
It was 28-7 at the half and 44-15 after three quarters with a mercy-rule running clock halfway through the final frame.
Bonds had nine points for the Twister girls, who made just six field goals for the entire contest.
Union City is now 12-6 overall heading into Saturday’s game.