The Union City Middle School boys’ basketball team was forced to settle for a runner-up finish in the West Tennessee Middle School Athletic Association Tournament.
School Communications Director Mike Hutchens said Union City suffered a heartbreaking 36-33 overtime loss to Milan in the conference championship game on Monday night.
The Tornadoes finished their 2024-25 season with a spectacular (19-2) record and the regular season league title.
Union City had beaten the second-seeded Bulldogs two times in the regular season, and led by seven in the fourth quarter with a minute to play.
Milan’s Leiland Neely made a pair of 3-pointers to fuel a rally by the host team, with the game ending 29-29 at the end of regulation.
The Twisters were up again in OT before Caden Arrington sank his only bucket of the contest, a 3-pointer, to give Milan a lead it would not relinquish.
Ayden Lewis, who led Union City with 16 points, had all eight of his team’s markers in the third period. Kaden Robinson finished with seven points.
“I’m proud of the kids. They played against schools with bigger enrollments than ours in this conference and had great success throughout the entire season,” said Union City head coach Bill Kail, who was named the league’s Coach of the Year. “Personally, I’d trade any award to have seen them win a championship. This was one of the better groups I’ve ever had.
“I hate it for them that it happened the way it did. We had a chance to finish how we wanted to, which made it sting even more. Still, they worked hard, and I saw so much individual growth from last summer to this final game. The future of Union City High School basketball is bright if they continue to put in that type of work.”
Lewis, Braydon Marshall, Preston Creswell, and Zaven Thompson were named to the all-conference team for the Tornadoes in post-game ceremonies.
(photos: Charles Choate – 104.9 KYTN/105.7 WQAK)
