WALHALLA — On Tuesday night against Tamassee-Salem, the Walhalla High School boys’ basketball team showed signs of a pesky personality disorder that Razorbacks head coach Hal Dunlap wants his team to shed before much longer.

“We didn’t play well in the first half, and we suddenly turned into a three-point shooting team, which we’re not,” Dunlap said.

But a quick session with Dunlap at the halftime break was all the Razorbacks needed to right themselves, as they used a big third quarter to get past Tamassee-Salem by a final score of 66-47 in the second round of the Apple Classic Holiday Hoops Tournament.

With the win, the Razorbacks (9-2) will advance to today’s championship game of their tournament, taking on Hamilton Heights (Tenn.) at 7:30 p.m.

Walhalla had jumped out to an early 8-2 advantage following a hoop and harm three-point play from Meeshon Thompson, and widened the lead to 18-7 early in the second quarter.

But on three consecutive possessions, Jeremy Talley, Nick Scholz, Sam Tilson helped spark an 8-0 run for the Eagles (4-5), helping them eventually cut the deficit to 21-18 at halftime.

And having played Walhalla twice already this season, Tamassee-Salem head coach Jeff Grimes had a good feeling what to expect from the Razorbacks coming out of the break.

“We knew at halftime they would come out and make a push,” Grimes said. “They’d beaten us twice before quite handily, and we knew they would come out strong.”

That was exactly the case, as Walhalla came out and started the third quarter on an 11-0 run, and eventually outscored the Eagles 28-8 in the quarter thanks to some strong play from Hunter Coker and Isaac Williamson, as the Razorbacks got back to pounding the ball inside and executing in transition.

“In the second half we did a lot of those things much better,” Dunlap said. “We really want them to understand we’re not very good unless we’re playing at a very high level of emotion and physical play.”

Despite taking the loss, Grimes said he expects the extra game against Walhalla should pay dividends in the long run, as he still took some positives out of the close first-half effort and a fourth quarter that saw the Eagles outscore Walhalla.

“No one really expected us to come out and do a whole lot, and I hope they showed everyone that toughness and that they have a good season ahead of them,” Grimes said.

Tamassee-Salem will square off against region foe Ninety Six at 6 p.m. to close its tournament appearance, which will be followed by the Razorbacks’ championship bout.

Walhalla girls advance to title game. The Walhalla girls’ team will also be playing for a tournament title today, as it defeated Greater Gwinnett (Ga.) by a final score of 65-49 in second round action on Tuesday.

Shanna Pearce had another strong game for the Razorbacks (7-4), with 18 points on the night. Brooklyn Watt added 15 for Walhalla, while Halie Chambers scored 11 points.

The Razorbacks’ championship game against Daniel will tip off at 3 p.m.

Walhalla 66, Tamassee-Salem 47

T-S 7 11 8 21 — 47

WHS 14 7 28 17 — 66

Tamassee-Salem (47) — Priest 14, Talley 12, Tilson 7, Brown 5, Garrett 4, Moss 3, Scholz 2.

Walhalla (66) — Thompson 16, I. Williamson 16, Coker 11, N. Williamson 10, Gantt 5, Addis 2, Hassell 2, Oglebsy 2, Brown 1, Wolff 1.

Apple Classic Holiday Hoops Tournament

Today’s schedule

Upstate Homeschool vs. Walhalla JV (girls) 9 a.m.

Tamassee-Salem vs. Hamilton Heights (Tenn.) (girls) 10:30 a.m.

Dixie vs. Greater Gwinnett (Ga.) (boys) noon

West-Oak vs. Greater Gwinnett (Ga.) (girls) 1:30 p.m.

Daniel vs. Walhalla (girls’ championship) 3 p.m.

Upstate Homeschool vs. West-Oak (boys) 4:30 p.m.

Ninety Six vs. Tamassee-Salem (boys) 6 p.m.

Walhalla vs. Hamilton Heights (Tenn.) (boys’ championship) 7:30 p.m.