By By Marty Stamper/Special to The Star
Sat., Jan. 20, 2001
WALNUT GROVE If anyone hadn't seen the Philadelphia Tornadoes before Friday night's Division 5-2A game at South Leake, you could have seen a summary of their season in that contest.
The Tornadoes, who lost 48-44, were plagued by turnovers, many unforced, in the first quarter as they fell behind 18-12.
South Leake's 15th-ranked Wildcats extended their lead to 31-18 at halftime and still led by 13 (41-28) to start the fourth quarter.
A pair of free throws by Terry Boyd pulled Philadelphia to within 42-41 with 2:35 to play as the Tornadoes outscored the Wildcats 13-1 to open the final period.
Just when the Tornadoes had a chance to take the lead, South Leake senior point guard Adrian Kelly swiped the ball and scored a layup with 1:33 left for the Wildcats' first basket of the final period.
Kalus Johnson added a basket 23 seconds later as the Wildcats went up 46-41.
A 3-pointer from Boyd pulled the Tornadoes to within 46-44 with 15 seconds showing, but Kelly swished home two free shots with 13.5 seconds left to give the Wildcats a four-point lead.
A Tornado turnover on a traveling call with 8.4 seconds left sealed the outcome.
South Leake extended its win streak to 19 with the win. The Wildcats improved to 22-1 overall and 6-0 in 5-2A.
Johnson led the Class 2A defending state champions with 15 points. Lekendrick Fortune scored 10, Kelly had eight, Chris Bloodsaw tossed in seven, and Jerry Luckett added five.
Philadelphia (13-11 overall and 4-3 in 5-2A) was led by Rashaun Hill's 18 points with 12 coming from 3-point land. Keith Houston scored nine, Tellas Burnside had seven, and Boyd added five.
South Leake girls 57, Philadelphia 45: The Wildkittens used a 24-point outing from Monique Overstreet to take the night's opener.
Overstreet, a 5-foot-10 junior, had eight points in both the first and fourth quarters. She hit two 3-pointers and was 12-of-15 at the free-throw line.
South Leake led 15-14 after one quarter and eased into halftime with a 28-22 advantage. Both teams scored 11 points in the third period leaving the Wildkittens up 39-33.
A layup from Ashley Martin with 5:08 left and a 3-pointer from Overstreet with 4:01 remaining extended South Leake's lead to 48-35.
South Leake also got 12 points from Martin, 10 from Tierra Young, and six from Brandy Earnest. The Wildkittens improved to 3-3 in 5-2A and 14-10 overall.
Philadelphia got 12 points from Danielle Jones, eight from Cassie Henson, six from Shekara Young, and five apiece from Kedria Watson and Krystal Moore. The Lady Tornadoes fell to 4-3 in 5-2A and 10-12 overall.