By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City’s girls took a giant step toward respectability and the upper echelon of District 14A Tuesday night.
The Lady Tornadoes secured the No. 3 spot in the upcoming league tournament with their fifth straight win – a 33-29 triumph over second-place Greenfield at Marty Sisco Gymnasium.
UC (13-13, 6-4) never trailed in avenging an earlier narrow loss to the ‘Jackets and locked in a first-round district tourney home game against sixth-seed Lake County (3-18, 0-10) next Monday with a berth in the semifinals and a region ticket at stake. The Twister girls have already beaten LC three times this season.
The third-ranked Tornado boys put the finishing touches on a perfect run through 14A with a 73-43 blowout of G’field in the nightcap.
Union City (22-5, 10-0) added to its long list of mercy-rule triumphs with its 10th consecutive victory. A 24-point first half by Malaki Brooks that included six 3-pointers highlighted the latest Purple and Gold romp.
UC will celebrate Senior Night in its final regular season game Thursday.
UC 33, Greenfield 29 (G)
Defense and rebounding carried the Lady Tornadoes, who continued their late-season surge with another gritty triumph.
Union City held Greenfield (15-9, 7-2) to just four first-half field goals and single-digit point outputs in three of the four quarters. The Twister girls dominated the glass, too, outrebounding the visitors by 11 while contesting every shot.
Jayla Turner’s 3-pointer late in the opening stanza gave UC a 9-2 lead. Buckets by Aujani Moss, Sh’Nyla Moss, and Debrionna Jones to end the first half capped a flurry and put the Lady Tornadoes up 19-8 at the intermission.
Greenfield cut into a double-figure deficit in the third quarter, then got within three points on three occasions down the stretch while Union City was enduring its own offensive struggles that included five straight missed free throws.
Marlee Theobold came up big for the Twisters in crunch time, though, snagging an offensive rebound and feeding Jones for a huge bucket, then drawing a key charge on the defensive end with less than a minute to play.
A pair of Sh’Nyla Moss foul shots with 24 seconds to go made it a two-possession game, and Ada Rogers sank a charity at the four-second mark to seal the win.
Sh’Nyla Moss claimed scoring honors with a dozen markers, while Jones added nine and six blocked shots while controlling the paint.
UC 73, Greenfield 43 (B)
Brooks was splendid over the first 16 minutes, capping another stellar performance with the last of his treys at the halftime horn to put his team up 48-16.
The senior gunner watched the remainder of the lopsided contest from the bench with the rest of the Tornado starters after they seized control from the opening tip with their relentless fullcourt pressure defense and run-and-gun offensive style.
Joseph Lattus knocked down a pair of triples and a mid-range jumper in the opening half, while Ben Kail connected three times from the field in the UC onslaught.
DeAngelo Monroe buried a pair of 3-pointers in the third period for the Tornado bench brigade, while Zak Summers sank a trio of deuces to help Union City take a 69-30 lead after three and set into motion a running block.
Like Lattus, Jayden Evans was just a bucket shy of double digits for the Twisters.