Philadelphia’s Stetson Moore puts up a jumper over Union’s Casey Morris on Tuesday night in Union.

UNION — There was a lot on line, and it still wasn’t close.

With the help of stingy defense that forced numerous turnovers and the play of Stetson Moore, Philadelphia ran past Union 66-41 to claim sole possession of first place in Region 4-2A.

“Coming over here and playing like we played tonight where the district tournament is going to be at is huge for us,” Philadelphia coach Michael Tardy said. “We want to make this our house, and we wanted to send a statement out that Tornado basketball is back.”

The Tornadoes (13-9, 4-1) never trailed the entire game.

Philadelphia came out and took a 16-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. Midway through the second quarter the Tornadoes went on a 10-0 run to go up 28-11 and would end the first half up 36-15.

“These guys haven’t been in a lot of close games and haven’t won a lot. As the year has gone, the guys have been able to put it together at the right time,” Tardy said. “Our goal is to go deep in the postseason, and we’ve been working on that since August.” 

Stetson Moore had a game-high 23 points to lead Philadelphia.

“With him playing football and them going far in the playoffs, we knew it would take a while for him to get back in the groove,” Tardy said. “Teammates are learning to find ways to get him the ball. He’s relaxing, and he’s coming into his own in the post, and he can take over a game if needed.”

Jarron Boler added 18 points, and Zahin Hundter chipped in eight points for the Tornadoes.

“I wanted to perform on a high level tonight, and I did,” Boler said. “We just have to keep working hard in practice and do what we have to do, and we will go deep in the playoffs.”

Casey Morris and J.T. Vance had 12 points apiece to lead Union (11-10, 3-2).

“Our last couple of days of practice weren’t that good, and we came out slow tonight,” Union coach Joshua Luckett said. “We just have to bounce back. They took it to us, and it was for first place, and we laid an egg.”

PHILADELPHIA 49, UNION GIRLS 36

Andrika Carter had a game-high 13 points as the Lady Tornades got past the Lady Yellow Jackets.

Philadelphia improved to 14-8 overall and 3-2 in Region 4-2A.

Mackenzie Dolan had 11 points to lead Union (12-9, 3-2).