Monday, February 08, 2010

Wildcats clinch post-season berth with 68-58 road win over Bulldogs
South Division-leading PRCC men win 10th straight; Lady Wildcats women tale 51-38 defeat at Gulf Coast

    PERKINSTON — Pearl River’s Wildcats clinched a berth in the MACJC State Tournament here Monday with a convincing 68-58 South Division basketball victory over arch-rival Mississippi Gulf Coast.
    The Wildcats improved to 16-4 overall and 7-2 in division play after recording their 10th-straight win, while the Lady Wildcats dropped to 7-13 and 1-8 with their 51-38 loss to the Lady Bulldogs. MGCCC’s men dropped to 14-8 and 4-5, while its women are now 8-14 and 4-5.
    “We’re in (the state tournament) now,” said 19th-year Wildcat coach Richard Mathis, whose team hasn’t lost since Dec. 7's 85-81 home loss to Hinds.. “But we struggled tonight against their (Gulf Coast’s) zone and honestly if it wasn’t for the job Phillip Crawford did, we would’ve lost this one.”
    Crawford, a freshman forward from Mobile, Ala., finished the contest with a game-high 28 points and 10 rebounds.
    Mathis also lauded the play of forward Emil Jones of North Forrest and point guard Desmond Ratliff of Canton.
    “Emil is a positive influence on this team,” he said. “He gives you 100 percent and is solid both offensively and defensively. Desmond’s not the kind of guy that’s going to put up bunches of points, but he gets us going.”
    The Wildcats currently lead the men’s South derby in lieu of a tie-breaker with Jones County, which is also 7-2 in the division, while Hinds is third at 5-3 followed by Gulf Coast.
    The top four men’s and women’s finishers in North and South divisions earn berths in the state tournament set for Feb. 22-25 (Monday through Thursday) at the home court of the North women’s champ.
    In the men’s game, Pearl River jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the opening minutes, but Gulf Coast answered with a 13-3 scoring run over a five-minute span to take a 15-13 lead with 9:55 left in the first half.
    After Jones answered with a foul shot, Zach Vickers of Laurel Hill, Fla., hit a basket to regain the lead at 17-15. The Bulldogs managed to tie it up at 21-21 and 23-23 in the closing minutes before the half, but Pearl River headed to the locker room up 28-27 at the break.
    The Wildcats opened the second half with a 13-4 run to pump its lead to 31-41 with 12:55 left, then went on to build their lead to as many as 13 points — 59-46 with 5:10 remaining. The closest the Bulldogs would cut into The River’s lead was at seven points at the 9:25 mark.
    Besides Crawford, Kenderek Washington of Hinds AHS scored 13 points and hauled in eight boards for PRCC, while Jones added nine, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished off four assists, and snatched four steals. Rod Little of Moss Point scored eight, Ratliff four (six rebounds, four assists), and Tre Brown of Ocean Springs and Vickers, three each.
    For Gulf Coast, Raymond Cintron led the way with 21 points, including five three pointers; while Travis Rasco scored 13, Williams eight, Matt Washington seven, Willie Brownlee four, and Collin Goley and Calvin Walker, two each.
    Pearl River was 26 of 75 (34.7 percent) from the field to Gulf Coast’s 15-of-51 (31.4 percent) effort, while the Wildcats were three of 18 (16.7 percent) from three-point range to the Bulldogs’ five of 10 (50 percent) showing. At the foul line, PRCC was 13 of 25 (52 percent), while MGCCC was 21 of 26 (80.8 percent).
    The River dominated the boards with 55 rebounds to Gulf Coast’s 37.
    The Wildcats defeated the Bulldogs 86-75 in a previous meeting played Jan. 11 in Poplarville.
    In women’s action, the Lady Bulldogs closed out the first half with a 14-0 run to pump their lead to 31-14 at the break, then opened the second five unanswered points to build their lead to 36-14 — their largest of the game — with 17:10 left.
    The River answered with a 20-5 scoring surge to pull to within seven — 41-34 — with 6:49 remaining, but Gulf Coast outscored PRCC 10-3 the rest of the way to take the 14-point victory.
    Brittany Weathers of Oak Grove paced the Lady Wildcats with 10 points and eight rebounds, while Nicole Holder of Lumberton High added nine, Kenyatta Epps of Yazoo City six, Sam Fairley of Hattiesburg High five, Shandell Peters of East Marion four (six rebounds), and Charlene Green of South Pike and Shundrea Windham of Laurel High, two each.
    Kiara Johnson led Gulf Coast with a game-high 19 points (seven rebounds), while Deonica McCormick scored 10 (seven rebounds), Kaci Burkhalter seven (six rebounds), Brianne Collins seven, Samantha Butcher six (game-high nine rebounds), and Michelle Millender two.
    Pearl River was 13 of 63 (20.6 percent) from the field to Gulf Coast’s 21-of-57 (36.8 percent) effort, while the Lady Wildcats were three of 16 (18.8 percent) from three-point range to the Lady Bulldogs’ three-of-10 (15 percent) showing. At the foul line, PRCC was nine of 16 (56.3 percent), while MGCCC was six of 10 (60 percent).
    The Lady Bulldogs defeated the Lady Wildcats 80-59 in a previous meeting played Jan. 11 in Poplarville.
    New Horizon visits The River for a men’s only contest Monday at 5 p.m., then the Wildcats and Lady Wildcats play host to division foe Southwest Mississippi Thursday, Feb. 11, for 5 p.m. (women) and 7 p.m. (men) games before wrapping up the regular season with two straight division dates.
    On Feb. 15 East Central visits Shivers Gymnasium for 5 p.m. (women) and 7 p.m. (men) games, then Copiah-Lincoln plays host in Wesson at 6 p.m. (women) and 8 p.m. (men).