Tornadoes take easy victory over Union

By By Rocky Higginbotham/special to The Star
January 17, 2004
PHILADELPHIA The talk about the Philadelphia boys' basketball program for the past week has centered around senior post player Eric Lyons and how the Tornadoes may have to replace him if he can't return from a knee injury.
Friday night, Philly didn't need Lyons to expose its advantage in the paint. The host Tornadoes out-rebounded visiting Union 40-27, and coasted to an easy 66-39 win over the Yellowjackets in non-division action.
The Tornadoes, who have had four starters miss at least some time with injuries this season, improved to 14-5 with the victory. Union dropped to 6-11.
Philadelphia also won the girls' contest, taking a 63-35 victory over the Lady Yellowjackets.
Union is back in action again tonight at home against Neshoba Central, while Philly's next games are Tuesday at home against Newton High.
Philly 66
Union 39
The Tornadoes turned the ball over six times in the first period, but were still up 12-8.
Behind nine points from Bobby Goodin six on a couple of 3-pointers and three more on an old-fashioned three-point play Philly pushed that lead to 33-16 by halftime.
Union got the first two buckets of the third quarter to pull within 33-20. But that's when the Tornadoes particularly 6-foot-5 junior Trey Beamon showed their presence on the glass.
The 13-point deficit was as close as the Jackets came the rest of the night, as Philly went on a 17-5 run. Beamon scored 12 of those points, with eight coming on putbacks six of those off rebounds from his own misses.
Union also scored the first six points of the final period to pull within 52-34, only to see the Tornadoes reel off 12 unanswered points.
Goodin finished with a game-high 16 points, while Beamon had 15 points, 14 rebounds and four assists for the Tornadoes. Cordae Coleman was also in double figures with 11 points, while Kylanski Hunter had eight rebounds.
Union got eight points from James Harris, seven from Demond McDonald and six each from Anthony Johnson and Kenny Slaughter. Jacob Casey handed out four assists and Johnson had a team-high nine rebounds.
Girls
Philly 63
Union 35
The Lady Tornadoes ran their record to 16-3 on the season by outscoring Union in all four quarters Friday night.
Philly was up 17-8 after one period and used an 11-2 run in the second quarter for a 33-17 bulge at the break.
The Lady Yellowjackets twice got within 14 points in the third, but never got any closer.
Ashley Lowery and Shenique Brass led a balanced Philadelphia attack with 12 points apiece, while Dominetrix Hunter scored 10, Shanese Hunter had nine and Candisha Shannon eight.
Shannon also had seven rebounds and six assists and Brass had six rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Union got 10 points from Curbie Buckley and six points, seven rebounds and four assists from Lauren White.