Warriors thump Tornadoes
June 30, 2006 - World Basketball Association (WBA)
Cartersville Warriors News Release
Rome, GA - The Cartersville Warriors opened the World Basketball Association playoffs with a 112-89 victory over the North Mississippi Tornadoes Thursday night in a quarterfinal matchup at Shorter College in Rome.
The Warriors (17-4), who entered the playoffs as the No. 2 seed, took the lead early in the game and slowly pulled away from North Mississippi (10-11), which was the No. 7 seed.
"Tonight we had a different kind of focus than I seen throughout the whole season. Our guys made a point to play as a team and reduce their unforced turnovers. We took care of the ball and ran our halfcourt sets really well."
Cartersville led 29-23 after one quarter before the Tornadoes trimmed the Warriors' lead in the second period. However, the Warriors made a run late in the half to take a 53-41 lead into the locker room.
In the third quarter, Cartersville was able to take advantage of some mismatches against the Tornadoes and pushed its lead out to 85-67 heading into the final 12 minutes. North Mississippi got as close as 14 points in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors put their foot on the accelerator and never let the Tornadoes make another run.
"We were able to use our mismatches in paint and on the perimeter," said Archer. "This was probably our most complete game so far this season."
Bobby Brown led the Warriors with 18 points and three steals. Delvin Thomas had 17 and three steals and Antoine Broxsie finished with 16 (on 7-of-11 shooting) and nine rebounds in his first game back after a tour of China. Rey Luque and Terrance Hill poured in 14 each and Mike Dean had 12 in just 15 minutes.
Steve Thomas added seven and 12 rebounds and point guard Anthony Slater finished with just two points, but had 13 assists and six steals in what Archer called "the best game (Slater) has played all season".
Cartersville faces either the third-seeded Arkansas ArchAngels (12-8) or the Marietta Storm (10-9), the No. 6 seed, in the semifinals tonight at 5 p.m. at Shorter. The WBA's championship game is Saturday night at 7.
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World Basketball Association Stories from June 30, 2006
- Warriors thump Tornadoes - Cartersville Warriors
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