Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Holmes cans Pearl River
Wildcats eliminated from MACJC State Tournament with 78-72 first-round loss to ’Dogs, despite Wesley Jones’ 32-point effort

            WESSON — Pearl River was quickly eliminated from the MACJC State Tournament as the Holmes Bulldogs pulled off a 78-72 first-round victory here Tuesday in Graydon L. Mullen Gymnasium despite a 32-point, 12-rebound effort from Wildcat star Wesley Jones.
            The Wildcats, the South’s No. 3 seed, dropped to 15-11 overall; while the Bulldogs, the North’s No. 2 seed, improved to 19-8.
            Pearl River now eyes a berth next week’s Region 23 Tournament set for Monday through Wednesday at Mississippi College in Clinton.
            The Wildcats struggled with the Bulldogs’ unrelenting pressure defense for the majority of the first half, while Holmes had a “three-for-all” for the first 20 minutes of play sinking seven of 14 three-point attempts to lead 44-33 at the break.
            Pearl River led only three times in the contest. Jones, a sophomore from Beatrice, Ala.,  opened the scoring with his only trey of the afternoon; then back-to-back three pointers by Jeremy Stewart of Moss Point and Chazz Hawkins of Picayune High put the Wildcats up 10-6 in the opening minutes.
            Holmes’ Adrian Moore answered with his first of three threes in the game, then grabbed a steal and sped down court for another bucket to put the Bulldogs up for good at 11-10. That kicked off a 33-21 run to propel HCC to a 13-point lead — it’s largest of the half — at 44-31 with just under three minutes left. Jones sank two of four free throw attempts during the remaining time to cut Holmes’ lead to 44-33 at the intermission.
            The Bulldogs opened the second half with a 10-3 run to boost their lead to 18 — their largest of the game — but Pearl River answered with a 36-24 scoring advantage from there on out only to lose by six.
            Besides Jones, Brandon Payne of Mobile, Ala., scored 12, hauled in seven boards, and dished off four assists; while LeBaron Weathers of Oak Grove added seven and also had seven rebounds. Stewart scored six (five assists), Hawkins and Darrionne Jones of Picayune High, five each; Jarrod Husband of Richton three, and Abram Robins of Forrest County AHS two.
            Richard Worth paced Holmes with 21 (three treys, eight rebounds), while Jeremy Cable added 19, Moore 11 (three treys), Jamari Gunn 10, Jonathan Boyd nine (three treys), George Barrow four (five rebounds), Brandon Brinson three, and Derrick Huffman one.
            Pearl River hit 57.9 percent (22 of 38) at the free-throw line to Holmes’ 66.7 percent (14 of 21), while the Wildcats were 23 of 48 (47.9 percent) from the field to the Bulldogs’ 27 of 56 (48.2 percent) effort. PRCC sank four of nine (44.4 percent) of its three-point attempts, while HCC hit 10 of 32 (31.3 percent).
            Holmes blistered the nets in the first half, hitting 63 percent (17 of 27) from the field, while Pearl River hit 40 percent (eight of 20).
            The Bulldogs held the edge in rebounding 37-30 and grabbed 11 steals to the Wildcats’ two.
            In other tournament action, South No. 1 seed Mississippi Gulf Coast was upset by North No. 4 Northwest Mississippi 87-79 to open Tuesday’s action; while South No. 2 Copiah-Lincoln upended North No. 3 Mississippi Delta 70-56. North No. 1 Itawamba smacked South No. 4 Hinds 74-62 to wrap up the men’s first-round. Northwest will not take on Holmes Wednesday at 3:15 p.m., followed by Itawamba and Co-Lin at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday’s winners will do battle at 7:45 p.m. Thursday for the state championship.
            In Monday’s first round of women’s action, North No. 3 Itawamba trimmed South No. 2 Jones County 64-63, North No. 1 Northeast Mississippi defeated South No. 4 East Central 71-66,  South No. 1 Co-Lin smacked North No. 4 Holmes 55-44, and North No. 2 Mississippi Delta dropped South No. 3 Southwest Mississippi 66-60. Northeast faces off with Itawamba Wednesday at 1:30 p.m., while Co-Lin and Mississippi Delta will do battle at 6 p.m. Wednesday’s winners will square off at 6 p.m. Thursday for the women’s title.