Tuesday, November 03, 2009

River sweeps Patriots in hoops season openers
Lady ’Cats 81-61 winners; ’Cats top century mark in 118-92 victory

      POPLARVILLE — Pearl River Community College women’s and men’s basketball opened its 2009-2010 season in grand style Monday with lopsided victories over Wallace-Selma (Ala.) here in Shivers Gymnasium
      The Lady Wildcats bombed the visiting Lady Patriots 81-61, while the Wildcats topped the century mark with a 119-92 blowout. Both squads are now 1-0, while Wallace-Selma’s teams dropped to 0-1.
      In the women’s game, PRCC never trailed and built its lead to as much as 17 three times in the first half before Nicole Brooks sank a buzzer-beater to cut the Lady Wildcats’ lead to 44-29 at the intermission.
      The Lady Patriots opened the second half with a 7-2 run, capped by Sher’Ryan Scott’s trey at the 18:20 mark to pull to within 10 at 46-36. The Lady Wildcats answered with a 31-16 scoring surge to build their lead to a game-high 25 points — 77-52 — with 4:10 left when Olivia Magee sand a pair of foul shots. Wallace-Selma closed out the game with a 9-4 run.
      Magee, a sophomore who prepped at Columbia High, paced Pearl River with 22 points, including three treys; while Brittany Weathers of Oak Grove added 17 and hauled in a game-high six boards. Kenyatta Epps of Yazoo City (three steals) and Sam Fairley of Hattiesburg High scored 11 points each, while Shandell Peters of East Marion added seven, Jen Ervin of Atlanta, Ga., and Courtney Lacoste of Hancock County, four each; Nicole Holder of Lumberton High three, and Charlene Green of of North Pike two.
      Scott sank a game-high 28 points (three treys), while Whitney Miles added eight, Kiara Burch seven, Nicole Brooks six, Brittany Harris four, Jasmine Miller three, Regina Bratholomew and Crystal Turk, two each; and Jamia Whiting one.
      From the field, WS-CC hit 40 percent (24 of 60) to PRCC’s 48.1 percent (26 of 54), while the Lady Patriots were three of 10 (30 percent) from three-point range to the Lady Wildcats seven of 15 (46.7 percent). At the foul line, Wallace-Selma was 10 of 16 (62.5 percent), while Pearl River was 22 of 35 (62.9 percent).
      In the men’s game, the Wildcats jumped out to a 29-14 lead in the first nine minutes, but the Patriots bounced back with a 8-0 scoring run to cut the lead to seven — 29-22 — with 9:09 left before the half.
      Pearl River answered with a 13-3 scoring surge to build its lead to 42-25 at the 5:40 mark, then outscored W-SCC 17-12 from there on out to lead 59-40 at the break — its largest of the first half.
      The Wildcats opened the second half with an offensive and defensive onslaught, outscoring the Patriots 32-7 to build their lead to 91-47 — 44 points — with 9:46 left, but Wallace-Selma answered with a 45-26 scoring run to end the game.
      Josh Moore of Forest Hill in Jackson paced the Wildcats with 21 points, including a four-of-six effort from three-point range and an eight-of-10 showing from the field, while Zach Vickers of Laurel Hill, Fla., added 14 and hauled in a game-high six rebounds. Denzel McDaniel of Mobile, Ala., scored 13, Mykael Keeler of Oak Grove, Rod Little of Moss Point (two treys), and LaKendrick Maye of Prentiss High, 10 a piece; Kegan Houston of Quitman High and John Walker of Bassfield High, nine each; Reggie Fowler of Pearl River Central five, Emil Jones of North Forrest and Kenderick Washington of Hinds AHS, four each; and Phillip Crawford of Mobile, Ala., Cody Ladner of Pearl River Central, and Desmond Ratliff of Canton High, three a
piece.
      Charles Knight led Wallace-Selma with a game-high 23 points — all three pointers (seven of nine from the field) — while Tyree Mosley added 15 (three treys), Jerel Peoples 13, Roberto Perry seven, Willie Cooper and Adam Middleton, six each; Travares Williams five, Thomas King and Darrell Mayberry, four each; and Robert McCall two.
      From the field, WS-CC hit 43.9 percent (29 of 66) to PRCC’s impressive 61.8 percent (47 of 76), while the Patriots were 12 of 22 (54.5 percent) from three-point range to the Wildcats 10 of 19 (52.6 percent). At the foul line, Wallace-Selma was 22 of 26 (84.6 percent), while Pearl River was 14 of 24 (58.3 percent).
      PRCC travels to Baton Rouge CC in Baton Rouge, La., Thursday for 5 p.m. (women) and 7 p.m. (men) contests, then hits the road for Holmes in Goodman on Monday for a pair of MACJC non-division games at the same game times.