Edwardsville's Oliver StephenSALEM – Triad slowed things down to a snail’s pace on Friday night against Edwardsville in the Salem Invitational Tourney and the game still ended in a 39-23 win for the Tigers.

The victory in the semifinals of the tourney moves Edwardsville (15-1) to Saturday’s 8 p.m. final against Centralia (10-5). The Orphans defeated Effingham 49-47 to advance to the championship.

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The Tigers’ Mark Smith led all scorers on the night with 20 points. Oliver Stephen contributed eight points and Jack Marinko had six points, with Caleb Strohmeier adding five points.

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Edwardsville senior A.J. Epenesa missed the game because he will be playing Saturday night in the first Polynesian Bowl high-school football all-star game in Honolulu.

Noah Moss had nine points and Beau Barbour and Kyle Rood each had seven points for Triad.

The Tigers led 6-2 at the end of one, 12-4 at the half, 19-12 at the end of three and outscored the Knights 20-11 in the final quarter.

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