| Remember When —Obion Central ‘Cannon’ fires better than Warrior version | | Posted: Thursday, December 20, 2012 7:00 pm
| Remember when takes a look back at the local stories from the files of The Messenger that took place 1, 5, 10, 20 and 30 years ago.
30 Years Ago
Dec. 20 — Billed beforehand as ‘The Battle of the Cannons,’ Obion Central and gunner Cannon Whitby beat Kenton sharpshooter Anthony Cannon 84-59. Whitby had 15 points and Stan Haskins 16 as four Rebels scored in double figures to win for the eighth time in 10 decisions. The Tribe’s Cannon led all point-makers with 27 points but couldn’t keep Kenton from falling below the .500 mark at 5-6. The Central girls also won, avenging a loss to the Maidens in the Messenger-Obion County Tournament championship game with a 67-55 triumph. Kim Whipple erupted for 27 points and Vonda Montgomery added 13 for Central. The loss was just the second in 12 games for Kenton.
Dec. 22 — South Fulton and Union City divided an Obion County hoop twinbill, the Red Devils improving to 12-1 with a 61-50 triumph after UC had won the opener 59-41. Barry Williams led the Redmen with 23 points, including a pretty two-handed dunk, while teammate Patrick Hobbs added 14 points. Jerry Slayton topped the Tornadoes with 22 markers. Tenia Macklin’s 24 points and solid point guard play from Amy Thompson were key in the Lady Twister triumph. D.D. Moody topped SF with 20 points.
20 Years Ago
Dec. 21 — Robin Cude lit up Gibson County for a career-high 48 points — including 11 3-pointers — to keep Obion Central unbeaten at 10-0 with a 94-77 triumph. A junior guard, Cude was averaging 28 ppg in the Rebels’ perfect start. Ryan Dyer aided the winning cause with 15 points for OC. The Central girls (9-4) didn’t fare so well, losing 63-50 despite 20 points from Cortney Neeley.
Dec. 21 — The Union City girls won their seventh straight for the first time in 17 seasons with a 49-29 victory over Crockett County. The Lady Tornadoes improved to 8-3 behind 17 points from Benita Fitzgerald, 12 by Chastity Caldwell and 10 more from Rachel Little. The Twister boys also won their final pre-Christmas contest, 76-50 over CC. Rodney Bonds led the way with 23 points and Jermaine Fuller had 10 in a reserve role.
10 Years Ago
Dec. 20 — Jill Konkol, a standout cross country runner at Obion County Central, signed a grant-in-aid to continue her athletic career at Union University. Konkol was the Class A-AA individual state runnerup her sophomore and senior seasons as a Lady Rebel, and placed fourth in Tennessee her junior campaign. Her parents, Judy Webb and Joe Konkol witnessed Jill’s signing along with Central head coach Pam Daniel. Union was coming off back-to-back TranSouth Conference runnerup finishes.
5 Years Ago
Dec. 21 — The Union City girls first broke a six-game losing skid, then put together consecutive victories for the first time this season while winning twice in a holiday tournament in Trigg County (Ky.). Allison McCullough scored eight points to help the Lady Tornadoes break into the victory column against Heath, 35-30, before UC then claimed fifth place in the event with a 58-35 decision over the host team. Doreal Strayhorn had 11 points and both Brittney Mitchell and McCullough eight in the locals’ lopsided win vs. TC.
Dec. 24 — Union City’s boys’ basketball team won the Battle for the State Championship at Lipscomb University in Nashville, beating Mt. Juliet (67-62), Sycamore (75-66) and then Livingston Academy (72-61) for the tournament title. MJ Brown, Pat Polk and Nik Brooks were all named to the all-tourney team for the Tornadoes who improved to 13-0 with the impressive three-day showing. UC was the lone Class 1A team in the event.
1 Year Ago
Dec. 20 — The South Fulton girls and Ridgemont boys were crowned champions in the Obion County School System Tournament. Second-seeded SF stunned No. 1 and previously-unbeaten Lake Road 37-32 behind 21 points from Taylor Rogers. Avery Partin’s 22 topped all scorers for LR (12-1). R’mont denied the Red Devils a sweep of the titles by knocking off the top-seeded Redmen 50-41. The Mustangs bolted to a 20-2 lead and never looked back, getting 17 points from Klayton Hagan, 14 from Nathan King and 12 by Noah Cooper. Jyriq Jones tallied 16 for South Fulton.
Dec. 21, 22 — Union City’s Keylon Hyde (Class 1A) and both LaDevin Fair and Trey Phipps (4A) were named to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association All-State Football Team. Hyde rushed for 1,801 yards and 17 touchdowns in helping UC to a surprising quarterfinal playoff run. It was the second straight season the junior fullback had eclipsed the 1,200-yard rushing mark. Fair had more than 2,000 all-purpose yards between his rushing, receiving and kick returns for the Rebels, who won nine games and a playoff contest for just the second time ever. The record-setting Phipps threw for 3,013 yards and 38 TDs and was one of just three signal-callers named to the squad. Published in The Messenger 12.20.12 | | | | |
