Tuesday, February 3, 2009

River sweeps Hinds
Wildcats, Lady Wildcats pick up division wins

     POPLARVILLE — Pearl River Community College swept rival Hinds in women’s and men’s MACJC South Division basketball action here Thursday, as the Lady Wildcats took a 66-54 victory and the Wildcats were 71-59 winners.
      PRCC’s women improved to 2-17 overall and 2-6 in division play, while its men are now 14-6 and 5-3. HCC’s women fell to 4-16 and 1-7, while its men are now 7-13 and 2-6.
      The Wildcat squad remains tied with Copiah-Lincoln for third place in the men’s division derby behind Mississippi Gulf Coast (6-2) and No. 1 Jones County (7-1). MGCCC handed 22nd-ranked JCJC its first division loss of the year with a 92-85 decision Monday in Perkinston.
      The Lady Wildcats, on the other hand, shoved Hinds into sole possession of last place with Monday’s victory. Copiah-Lincoln leads the women’s side with a perfect 8-0 mark, followed by East Central (5-2), Jones County (6-2), Mississippi Gulf Coast (3-5), Southwest Mississippi (2-5), Pearl River, and Hinds.
      PRCC swept HCC Jan. 8 in Utica with the women winning 55-46 and the men 75-72.
      In the women’s game, the lead exchanged hands seven times and the score was tied five times in the first half before Shyeeda Wynne of Lumberton High sank a pair of foul shots in the final two minutes to snap a 24-24 stalemate. The Lady Wildcats went on to take a 26-25 lead at the intermission.
      PRCC opened the second half with a 13-2 run to grab its largest lead of the game (39-27), but Tiffany Williams hit one of her five treys on the night at the 15:15 mark to kick off an 18-5 scoring surge to put the Lady Bulldogs up 45-44 with 10:04 left.
      From that point, the lead exchanged hands four times, but Courtney Lacoste of Hancock County hit a field goal and a foul shot to regain the lead for PRCC at 54-52 at the 4:36 mark. Jameria Warren’s bucket a minute later tied it up at 54-all, but back-to-back three pointers by Reneka Thompson of Bassfield High put the Lady Wildcats up for good.
      The Lady Wildcats followed with six unanswered points to take the 12-point victory.
      Tiffany Williams paced Hinds with a game-high 21 points and hauled in seven boards, while Regina Grigsby added 10. Tiara Buckley scored seven off a seven-of-eight effort at the foul line, while Jasmine McDonald added four, Crystal Johnson three, Courtney Bolton, Brittany McGruder, Terri Richardson, and Jameria Warren, two a piece; and Lakwanda Wilson one.
      Lacoste scored 16 points and grabbed seven boards — both team-high totals — while Brittney Bentley of Hancock County, Jonneshia Pineada of Smyrna, Ga. (six rebounds, four assists), and Wynne (five rebounds) pitched in 10 a piece. Thompson added nine (three treys, five rebounds), Shondreka Lee of Hancock County seven (six rebounds), and Monique Barnes of Prentiss High four (five rebounds).
      Pearl River hit 45.1 percent (23 of 51) from the field to Hinds’ 32.7 percent (16 of 49) effort, while the Lady Wildcats were five of 10 (50 percent) from three-point range to the Lady Bulldogs’ five-of-16 (31.3 percent) showing. PRCC was 15 of 19 (78.9 percent) at the foul line, while HCC was 17 of 33 (51.5 percent).
      The Lady ’Cats dominated the boards with 46 rebounds (31 defensive, 15 offensive) to the Lady ‘Dogs’ 28 (15 defensive, 13 offensive), but were hampered by 24 turnovers to Hinds’ 13.
      In the men’s game, Hinds went up three times in the first half and once in the second.
      PRCC led by as many as eight points — 19-11 — with 12:29 left before the break, but HCC bounced back with a 15-6 run to go up 26-25 at the 4:10 mark. A minute later, Anansa Richardson pulled off a three-point play for the Bulldogs last lead of the half.
      Donta Smith of Baskin, La., sank the front end of a one-on-one in the final seconds to give The River a 34-33 edge at the break.
      Hinds managed to tie it up twice and snatched its final lead of the night in the opening minutes of the second half, but Randy Perkins hit one of his three treys on the night with 14:50 left to snap a 43-43 deadlock and the Wildcats never looked back.
      Perkins’ three pointer kicked off a 23-6 run that gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the night at 66-49 with 6:15 mark. Perkins, a sophomore out of Picayune High, accounted for 17 points during the scoring surge.
      From that point, the Bulldogs outscored the Wildcats 10-5.
      Courtney Nelson led Hinds with 13 points (six rebounds), while Mark Wilkerson added 10 (two treys), Adam Smith and Richardson, eight each; Leevern Sumler five, Kenyatta Anderson, Jarrel Wilson, and Jacorey Wright, four a piece; Marion Esther three, and Tristin McGowan two.
      Perkins paced the Wildcats with 19, while Kendrick Washington of Utica added 15 (seven rebounds), Smith (game-high nine rebounds, three steals) and Timothy Ware of Memphis, Tenn. (four assists), nine each; Nick Johnson of Uniontown, Ala., seven (six rebounds); Cameron Morgan of Harrison Central five, Rod Little of Moss Point four, Desmond Ratliff of Canton two, and Jeremy White of Hattiesburg High one (three steals).
      Pearl River hit 54.7 percent (29 of 53) from the field to Hinds’ 44.1 percent (26 of 59) effort, while the Wildcats were 6 of 14 (42.9 percent) from three-point range to the Bulldogs’ five-of-23 (21.7 percent) showing. PRCC was seven of 17 (41.2 percent) at the foul line, while HCC was two of nine (22.2 percent).
      The Wildcats had the edge on the boards with 37 rebounds (23 defensive, 14 offense) to the Bulldogs’ 31 (16 defensive, 15 offensive); while PRCC had 16 turnovers to HCC’s 14.
      Pearl River hosts division arch-rival Mississippi Gulf Coast Thursday at 5 p.m. (women) and 7 p.m. (men) in Shivers Gymnasium in Poplarville, then non-division foe East Mississippi visits Monday, Feb. 9, for women’s and men’s contest at the same game times.
      The MACJC State Tournament is set for Feb. 23-26 (Monday through Thursday) at the home court of the South Division men’s champion, pitting the top four women’s and men’s finishers in the North and South divisions, while the Region 23 Tournament is set for March 2-5 (Monday through Thursday) at Mississippi College in Clinton.