By T. Scott Boatright
When Simsboro’s offense gets rolling, the 13th-seeded Tigers are hard to beat as they showed Thursday night with a 88-59 win over District 1B foe Weston in opening round action of the Class B playoffs inside Napper Gym.
It was Simsboro’s second straight win over the Wolves after the Tigers took a 64-50 at Weston on Jan. 29.
Simsboro led by as many as eight points in the first quarter but stretched that lead to 20 points at halftime.
And the Tigers led by at least 20 points throughout the second half with their biggest advantage being 30.
“They just did enough — made a few big shots — that kept them within striking distance, just hanging around, until they just didn’t have enough time anymore,” said Simsboro coach Adam Wodach about the Wolves.
Simsboro’s 88 points was its high scoring output on the season.
Ahmad Smith and Justin Terrell provided the bulk of Simsboro’s offensive firepower with Smith striking for 30 points while Terrell hit for 25, including four 4-pointers in the third quarter.
“They’re both the type of players that when they get hot, you just keep on feeding them the ball,” Wodach said.
Mike Smith and Marr Woodard added 11 points each for the Tigers.
“It’s a big win for us,” Wodach said. “It’s been a long season and finally to get to be 1-0 again feels good. We’re starting a new journey here.”
The Tigers beat Choudrant, the 11th seed in Class B that had an opening-round bye, 86-72 in the Nov. 4 season opener for both teams.
Next up for the Tigers will be a game at fifth-seeded Laccasine, which also had a first-round bye, in a game Wodach said he hopes will be played on Monday.
Laccasine, the defending state champion, defeated Simsboro 71-64 in last year’s Class B semifinals.
