As the first home team to play in this week’s MAIS Class AAA South State Tournament, the Adams County Christian School Rebels created a rocking atmosphere Wednesday night.

Between screaming fans and a supportive bench, ACCS fed off its own energy to defeat Central Hinds in a second-round matchup, 73-42.

“It was pretty intense,” ACCS Richy Spears said. “They get into it, and they are supposed to do that. I like when that happens.”

ACCS took a commanding attitude throughout the second half, allowing multiple younger players to get into the game and ended with 11 different scorers on the night.

Josh Day led the Rebels with 25 points, Julian Wilson added another 11 of his own and Wes Stockstill ended with 10.

“I had some people step up and play well,” Spears said. “I don’t really care who scores, but I did feel like it was team ball. We were moving it around and got good shots. That’s what I’m really worried about.

“The last few weeks, I really feel like we have been doing a good job moving the ball and finding the open guy whoever it is.”

While the Rebels topped more than 20 points in both the third and fourth quarters, Spears said his team did have to recover from a long break to begin the game. ACCS’ last game was played nine days ago.

“It had been a while,” he said. “They kind of get antsy, so it was good for us to get back playing.”

With the win, the Rebels booked its ticket to next week’s Class AAA State Tournament. Nest, they will play the winner of Silliman Institute and Riverfield Academy at 7:45 p.m. Friday.

“We’ll see what happens,” Spears said. “We gave up easy shots and fouled too much.

“We can always get better, and it’s going to take that because it’s only going to get better from here on out.”