Wednesday, November 28, 2007
River splits at Northeast
Lady ’Cats pull out 83-82 squeaker, ’Cats fall 77-74 in OT

     BOONEVILLE — Pearl River Community College split with Northeast Mississippi here Tuesday in MACJC women’s and men’s basketball action with the Lady Wildcats pulling out an 83-82 squeaker, while the Wildcat squad fell 77-74 in overtime.
      The Lady Wildcats improved to 7-1 overall, while the Wildcats fell to 5-3. Northeast’s women dropped to 3-3, while its men improved to 4-3.
      In women’s action, Pearl River held on to a commanding 55-32 advantage at the intermission, but the Lady Tigers rebounded to outscore the Lady Wildcats 50-28 in the second half only to come up two points shy of victory.
      PRCC’s women defeated NEMCC 98-78 Nov. 12 in Poplarville.
      Stacia Eady of McRae, Ga., paced the Lady Wildcats with a career-high 24 points, including a five-of-six (83.3 percent) effort from three-point range, while Olivia Magee of Columbia High added 18, Laterrica Booth of Bassfield (eight rebounds) and Sherrion Thomas of Byram (six rebounds), 10 each; Brittany Lewis of Houma, La., seven, Nicole Lowe of Jackson Murrah six, Tori Keys of Collins four, Shondreka Lee of Hancock County three, and Reneka Thompson of Bassfield one.
      Eboni Crayton paced Northeast with a game-high 31 points, while Suzanne Hall added 18, Imie Hall nine, Kountess Welch seven, Kandi Knupp six, Queanisha Cathey five, and Erica Grayson and Anna McNair, three each.
      The Lady Wildcats hit 44.2 percent (34 of 77) from the field to the Lady Tigers’ 47.5 percent (28 of 59) effort, while PRCC was nine of 25 (36 percent) from three-point range to NEMCC’s nine of 20 (45 percent) showing. At the foul line, Pearl River was six of 10 (60 percent), while Northeast was 17 of 28 (60.7 percent).
      In men’s action, the Tigers led 38-25 at the intermission, but the Wildcats outscored their hosts 42-29 in the second half to knot things up at 67-all and send things into overtime. Northeast’s 10-7 advantage in the OT period iced the victory.
      Pearl River’s men defeated the Tigers 85-78 Nov. 12 in Poplarville.
      Jamarcus Jackson of Hattiesburg High paced the Wildcats with a game-high 22 points (eight rebounds), while Chris Harris of Meridian added a career-high 19, Jeremy Stewart of Moss Point nine, Donta Smith of Baskin, La., eight (game-high 14 rebounds), LeBaron Weathers of Oak Grove six, and Darnelle Johnson (five assists, four steals) of Mobile, Ala., Armond Porter of Pass Christian, and Jeremy White of Hattiesburg High, two a piece.
      The Wildcats hit 49.2 percent (31 of 63) from the field to the Tigers’ 45.5 percent (30 of 66) effort, while PRCC was four of 19 (21.1 percent) from three-point range to NEMCC’s seven of 15 (46.7 percent) showing. At the foul line, Pearl River was eight of 18 (44.4 percent), while Northeast was 10 of 16 (62.5 percent).
      PRCC returns to action Monday, Dec. 3, when it hosts MACJC non-division rival Itawamba in Shivers Gymnasium in Poplarville (women 5 p.m., men 7 p.m.), then wraps the pre-Christmas holiday portion of its schedule when Delgado (La.) visits Monday, Dec. 10, at the same game times.