Tornadoes roll up playoff victories
The Philadelphia Tornadoes took two more steps toward the Class 2A state championship last week.
The Tornadoes won both games they played last week, beating East Marion 72-61 on Tuesday and Wesson 65-50 on Saturday.
Veteran coach Willis Tullos said the Tornadoes are hitting their stride and playing well as a team.
"I thought we played really well this week," Tullos said. "I thought our scoring was real balanced and spread out across the board. The kids played hard and are excited about where they are and the opportunity they have."
The Tornadoes, now 23-5 on the season, now advance to the Class 2A South state semifinals where they will take on St. Patrick, which is 22-8 on the season. St. Patrick advanced by beating Union 32-28 and Bay Springs 65-60. The game will be played at 8:30 p.m. on Friday at Pearl River Community College. The winner of that game advances to the 2A Final Four at the Mississippi Coliseum against the winner of Amite County and North Forrest.
"They are huge," Tullos said of St. Patrick. "We are going to do what we have done all year. We are going to press them and spread them out. We don't have any big men but we are quick and we can run. If they can't run, they are in trouble. I think we have as good an opportunity to win as anybody. I know a lot of teams left are ranked but that doesn't mean anything this time of year. All of that goes out the window once you get on the court."
Philadelphia boys 72
East Marion 61
The Tornadoes pulled away in the second half and took an 11-point win over the Eagles on Tuesday night.
Jordan Hill led Philadelphia with 23 points while Tanner Boler had 18 points. Ira Chambers had 11 points while J.J. Hudson had eight points and Cisco Wilson added seven points.
"We've got people who can score," Tullos said. "We have 12 players and all 12 of them can score. I don't care who scores as long as they have on a Philadelphia jersey. We've got real good balance right now so if somebody has an off night, we have plenty other guys who can score."
Philadelphia boys 65
Wesson 56
The Tornadoes used another balanced scoring attack as they took a nine-point win over the Cobras on Saturday night.
Wesson led 16-15 at the end of the first period before Philadelphia outscored the Cobras 21-17 in the second to lead 36-33 at the half. The Tornadoes continued to expand on that lead in the second half as they outscored Wesson 17-13 in the third and 12-10 in the fourth to take the win.
Jordan Hill led Philadelphia with 14 points while Nick Crockett and J.J. Hudson each had 10 points. Ira Chambers and Tanner Boler each had nine points while Cisco Wilson had eight points.