Coaches like to say that some teams live and die by the 3-pointer. If that's true, Timberlake must have seemed immortal at the Vines Center Friday night.

Timberlake connected on eight first-half treys en route to a 61-50 victory over LCA in the first-round nightcap of the Holiday Classic. The Tornadoes now advance to tonight's championship game at 6:30 against VES, which defeated Holy Cross 44-32.

Timberlake, which improved to 4-0, jumped out to a 21-10 first-quarter lead with Jason Spear and Paul Fitzgerald doing all of the damage. Spear scored 12 of his 17 points in the first stanza, while Fitzgerald scored 9 of his 17.

The Tornadoes, or make that Spear and Fitzgerald, combined to hit 8 of 10 field goals to open the game.

"We're capable of that," Timberlake coach Charlie Williams said. "But it's not just one or two guys."

Fitzgerald finished with four threes, while Spear and Wyatt Craig (14 points) had three each. Clint Dodson hit one trey. In all, Timberlake hit 11 long-distance bombs.

"They've got some good players," LCA coach Tim Hill said. "You've got to give them credit. Coach Williams certainly had his players fired up."

Timberlake led by as many as 19 points — 33-14 — with 2:35 left until halftime. The Tornadoes had only three turnovers in the first half, while LCA had 11.

But LCA (2-5) refused to quit. The Bulldogs scored on their first eight possessions to open the second half and cut the lead to 46-37 with 2:29 left in the third quarter. From there, however, LCA scored only once in its next 11 possessions as Timberlake put the game away.

Chad Jones, who hit five 3-pointers, led LCA with 15 points.

In the opening game, Holy Cross looked like it was going to route VES as the Gaels opened the game with an 11-2 spurt.

VES, however, had other thoughts.

The Bishops (3-2) responded to the deficit by scoring 12 consecutive points to get back into the game.

Walker Hobson scored a game-high 15 points for VES, while Scott Keplinger and Carter Green had 10 each.

Holy Cross committed six turnovers, including four in a row at one point, to allow VES to grab a 15-14 lead at halftime.

"In the first quarter, we scored two points," VES coach Bob Leake said. "That was us underestimating Holy Cross. ... Holy Cross thoroughly outhustled us. That was not what we were capable of doing."

VES never trailed in the second half, although Holy Cross stayed within striking distance. Going into the fourth quarter, the Bishops held a 33-24 advantage.

Holy Cross (1-6) pulled within 37-22 with 2:33 remaining when Sherman Hughes nailed a 12-foot jumper. But VES' Nate Neel hit a 10-footer as the Bishops scored the game's final seven points.

"We had excessive turnovers tonight," Holy Cross coach Stan Hull said. "We had 21 turnovers. ... We were playing well in the first quarter and then the momentum switched."

Despite the 11-2 deficit, Leake said he not concerned.

"I figured we were gonna make some baskets and I had faith," Leake said. "I knew we could score, it was just a matter of us staying focused. We got contributions from 10 guys tonight."

Holy Cross was led by John Bumgarner, who scored 14 points.

LCA will face Holy Cross today at 5:30 in the consolation game.