RACINE, Ohio — The Tornadoes controlled the boards Tuesday night en route to a 60-44 victory over South Gallia.

The Purple and Gold pulled down 36 rebounds, 15 more than the Rebels, to take their sixth Tri-Valley Conference Hocking Division victory and their fifth victory in Carles W. Hayman Gymnasium.

Southern (8-7, 6-5 TVC Hocking) out rebounded SGHS (5-11, 3-8) 12-to-4 in the opening stanza, which allowed the hosts to jump out to a 13-7 lead. The Rebels rallied back in the second period with an 11-to-8 run that cut the SHS lead to three points at halftime.

The Tornadoes hot shooting allowed them to expand their lead to five points headed into the finale, despite committing seven turnovers in the third period. The Red and Gold had the best offensive period in the fourth, scoring 14 points. Unfortunately for the Rebels, Southern also had its best quarter of the night in the fourth, amassing 25 points to seal off the 60-44 victory.

Sophomore guard Tristen Wolfe led the way for the Tornadoes with 23 points on 10-of-13 (76.9 percent) from the field and 3-of-3 from the free throw line. Casey Pickens marked 12 points in the triumph, while Dennis Teaford had seven points. Adam Pape and Taylor McNickle each added six points, while Bradley McCoy, Trenton Deem and Zac Beegle each finished with two points, rounding out the SHS scoring.

Both Wolfe and Pickens finished one rebound shy of a double-double, with nine each. Pape finished with a team-high four assists, followed by Wolfe and Deem with three each. Wolfe had two steals on the night to lead the Tornadoes, while Teaford, McNickle and Wolfe accounted of Southern’s three rejections.

Southern shot 9-of-13 (69.2 percent) from the free throw line and 24-of-51 (47.1 percent) from the field including just 2-of-9 (22.2 percent) from beyond the arc. Pape and Pickens accounted for the two SHS three-pointers. As a unit the Tornadoes had 36 rebounds, 12 assists, seven steals, and 23 turnovers.

Brayden Greer paced the SGHS offense with 12 points, followed by Michael Wheeler with nine. Gus Slone chipped in with six points, Ethan Swain added five, C.J. Johnston marked four and Kody Lambert added three. Alex Stapleton notched two points, while Landon Hutchinson and Tyler Reynolds rounded out the SGHS scoring with one point each.

Wheeler and Greer led South Gallia with five rebounds each, while Swain had the lone blocked shot. Greer led SGHS with eight assists and six steals on the night.

The Rebels shot 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) from the charity stripe and 16-of-51 (31.4 percent) from the field including 4-of-21 (19 percent) from three. Greer accounted for two of the Rebels three-pointers, while Lambert and Swain had the others. SGHS as a team had 21 rebounds, 11 assists, 12 steals and 20 turnovers.

With the loss South Gallia falls to 2-7 away from Mercerville including 0-6 in TVC Hocking games.

Southern completes the sweep of SGHS, as the Tornadoes were also victorious on December 7th by a count of 43-38 in Gallia County. This is the second straight year SHS has swept the Rebels.