Friday, November 13, 2009

River splits in Big Easy
Lady ’Cats 77-51 trim Delgado 51-45; Wildcats fall to Dolphins 94-81

     NEW ORLEANS, La. — Pearl River Community College split with Delgado CC in NJCAA women’s and men’s basketball contests here Thursday.
      The Lady Wildcats pulled off a 51-45 victory to improve to 3-1 overall, while the Wildcats evened its overall mark at 2-2 with a 94-81 setback to the host Dolphins.
      DCC’s women dropped to 1-4, while its men are now 2-3.
      In the women’s game, Pearl River trailed 30-24 at the intermission but bounced back to outscore its hosts 27-15 in the second half to take the six-point victory.
      Brittany Weathers of Oak Grove High paced the Lady Wildcats with a game and season-high 19 points, while Kenyatta Epps of Yazoo City and Olivia Magee of Columbia High (five rebounds) added eight each. Shandell Peters of East Marion scored six, Jen Ervin of Atlanta, Ga., four, Courtney Lacoste of Hancock County three, Sam Fairley of Hattiesburg High two, and Charlene Green of North Pike one.
      For Delgado, Jamey Ellis led the way with 14 points, while Jennifer Varmail and Brittany Walker scored six each, Missy Scrubbs five, Christine Conner, Larissa Owens, and LaDaisha Smith, four a piece; and Savannah Lerille one.
      From the field, PRCC hit a meager 31 percent (18 of 58) to DCC’s 38.5 percent (15 of 39); while the Lady Wildcats were 12 of 23 (52.2 percent) at the foul line to the Lady Dolphins’ 10-of-18 (55.5 percent) effort.
      In men’s action, the Wildcats trailed 46-32 at the break, but outscored the Dolphins 49-48 in the second half only to come up 14 points shy of victory.
      Phillip Crawford of Mobile, Ala. (six rebounds), and Kenderick Washington of Hinds AHS (four rebounds) led PRCC with 13 points each; while Josh Moore of Jackson (Forest Hill High) added 12, Rod Little of Moss Point nine, Emil Jones of North Forrest, Denzel McDanield of Mobile, Ala., and Zach Vickers of Laurel Hill, Fla., eight a piece; Lakendrick Maye of Prentiss High four, and Tre Brown of Ocean Springs High, Kegan Houston of Quitman High, and Cody Ladner of Pearl River Central, two a piece.
      Delgado finished with four players hitting in double figures, led by Darrell Williams with 24, while Terry Jackson added 17, Devin Grigsby 13, and Brian Gibson 10. Other scorers included Kenneth Burnett and Josh Major with eight each, while Jamill Sanders added seven, Wesley Rhodes four, and Stafford Riley three.
      From the field, PRCC hit 46.3 percent (31 of 67) to DCC’s impressive 81 percent (32 of 61); while the Wildcats were 16 of 25 (64 percent) at the foul line to the Dolphins’ 17-of-21 (52.5 percent) effort.
      Pearl River hits the road for Mississippi Delta in Moorhead Monday for contests at 5 p.m. (women) and 7 p.m. (men), then returns home to host Holmes at the same game times. Both are MACJC non-division foes.