PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia’s Asher Morgan was playing for more than just his team Friday night.

He was playing for his grandfather, who passed away from cancer on Wednesday.

Behind Morgan and a stiff defense, the Tornadoes were able to get past Newton 47-35 in a crucial Region 4-2A matchup on Friday night.

“This game was very special to me,” Morgan said. “I’ll be at his funeral (Saturday), and it feels great to have a wonderful team behind me to support me. The first half was slow, but in the fourth quarter I got a steal and layup and just found a rhythm. This was a big win for us.”

Morgan finished with a game-high 14 points to lead Philadelphia (12-5, 1-0). He had eight points in the fourth quarter.

“Asher is a great shooter, and he is one of our leading scorers. He can shoot the ball well,” Philadelphia coach Willie Tullos said. “He was playing with a burden on his heart tonight with his grandfather dying. He stayed and played, and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

The first half was a defensive slug fest. Philadelphia held a slim 10-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. Newton then came out and started the second quarter on a 6-3 run to take a 15-13 lead midway through. That would be the only lead of the game for the Tigers, though, as the Tornadoes ended the quarter on a 7-0 run to go up 20-15 at halftime.

Philadelphia went up 30-25 at the end of the third quarter and ended the game on a 9-2 run to pull away.

“I thought during the tight situations the kids never lost their composure, and we felt like we could defend them, and we did tonight,” Tullos said. “I was worried about the rebounding because Newton rebounds well and is a very talented team, and we showed we can play with them and be a contender in 2A. We felt if we could put pressure on them defensively we would have success.”

Zabin Hunter added 11 points for Philadelphia.

Tyler Bedford had nine points to lead Newton, while Dazmeon Page added eight points for the Tigers (14-5, 1-1).

“They were able to hit big shots tonight and we weren’t. It was one of those nights,” Newton coach Darrin Gray said. “Philadelphia is a good team and will be good in 2A. The kids humbled themselves after a loss, and we will get in the gym and work.”

NEWTON GIRLS 42, PHILADELPHIA 28

Myja McNichols had a game-high 17 points as the Lady Tigers (15-2, 2-0) used a big second half to race past the Lady Tornadoes.

Nia Luckett had 12 points to lead Philadelphia (10-7, 0-1).