| UC girls’ holiday getting merrier | | | Christmas got a whole lot more merrier for the Union City girls over the past two days.
The Lady Tornadoes put together back-to-back victories for the first time this season, following up their five-point win over Heath on Wednesday with a convincing 58-35 triumph vs. Trigg County Thursday afternoon in their final game before the Christmas holiday.
The win gave UC fifth place in the National Guard 12 Games of Christmas Tournament hosted by Trigg County.
The Lady Twisters (3-9) forced a whopping 36 turnovers in dominating host TC from the opening tip.
Union City did not allow a first-quarter field goal, taking a 12-1 lead after the first eight minutes. It was 23-8 at halftime and 38-22 with three periods in the book as the locals did not allow Trigg County to ever get closer than eight points in the second half.
“We really just ate their guards up,” Lady Tornado head coach Jeff Chandler said of his team’s defensive prowess. “They were probably the most athletic of the three teams we played in the tournament, but defensively, we really played well the last two days.”
Ten of the 11 players to dress registered in the scoring column for the victors. Doreal Strayhorn was the lone double figure scorer with 11, while Allison McCullough and Brittney Mitchell pitched in eight markers apiece.
UC won despite another subpar shooting effort as it hit just 35 percent of its field goal attempts and 14-of-25 (58 percent) from the charity stripe.
“I’m really hoping we can use this as a springboard for better things in the second half of the season,” continued Chandler, whose team will compete in the Martin Lions Club Holiday Tournament Dec. 27-29. “Confidence is a great thing, and I believe if we could string together a couple of more wins and maybe beat somebody that people think we shouldn’t, we could really take off in January.”
Union City is set to face Adamsville Thursday in its opening round game of the Martin event that will be played at Westview High School. Should the Lady Tornadoes win, they would play the winner of the Westview-Fulton City game in the tourney semifinals. | | | | |
