Friday, February 19, 2010

Wildcats end regular season with 14-game winning streak via 84-51 blowout of Wolves
Division champ PRCC men enter next week’s MACJC State Tournament as South’s No. 1 seed; Lady Wildcats wrap season at 7-16 with 75-58 loss

    WESSON — MACJC South Division men’s basketball champion Pearl River wrapped up its regular season here Thursday with a lopsided 84-51 division victory over Copiah-Lincoln, marking the 14th-straight win for the Wildcats.
    PRCC, which improved to 20-4 overall and a division-best 10-2 mark, enters next week’s (Monday through Thursday) MACJC State Tournament at East Mississippi CC in Scooba as the South Division’s No. 1 seed. The Wildcats will open tournament play against North No. 4 Holmes at 2 p.m. Monday.
    Pearl River’s women ended its season with a 75-58 loss to the undefeated and third-ranked Lady Wolfpack, finishing at 7-16 and 1-11. CLCC’s women, the South Division champions, are now 23-0 and 12-0, while its men ended their season at 6-17 and 4-8.
    Against Co-Lin, the Wildcats jumped out to a commanding 43-18 lead at the intermission, then outscored the Wolfpack 41-33 in the second half to take the 33-point victory.
    Phillip Crawford out of Murphy High in Mobile paced PRCC with a game-high 14 points (five rebounds), while Kenderek Washington of Hinds AHS added 13 (seven rebounds), Zach Vickers out of Paxton High in Laurel Hill, Fla., 11; Josh Moore out of Forest Hill High in Jackson nine, Mychael Keeler of Oak Grove High and Rod Little of Moss Point High, eight each; Desmond Ratliff of Canton High six, Emil Jones of North Forrest High (six rebounds) and Denzel McDaniel out of Leflore High in Mobile, four each; Tre Brown of Ocean Springs High, Cody Ladner of Pearl River Central, and LaKendrick Maye of Prentiss High, two a piece; and John Walker of Bassfield High one.
    Anthony Evans led Co-Lin with 14 points, while Michael Campbell added 10, Glenn Ford, Jr., nine; Blaine Roberts eight, Demario Bell and Josh Hollins, four each; and Josh Hart of Marcus Hooten, two each.
    Pearl River hit a respectable 48.5 percent (33 of 68) from the field to Co-Lin’s dismal 26.6 percent (17 of 64), while the Wildcats were two of seven (28.6 percent) from three-point range to the Wolfpack’s two-of-21 (9.5 percent) effort. From the foul line, PRCC was 16 of 27 (59.3 percent), while CLCC was perfect at 15 of 15.
    Pearl River defeated Copiah-Lincoln 70-54 in a previous meeting played Jan. 25 in Poplarville.
    In the women’s game, the South Division champion Lady Wolves led 46-27 at the break, but the Lady Wildcats rebounded with a 31-29 advantage in the second half only to come up 18 points shy of victory.
    Brittany Weathers of Oak Grove High paced PRCC with a 17 points and 10 rebounds — both game-high totals — while Keyatta Epps of Yazoo City High added 14, Nicole Holder of Lumberton High 11 (nine rebounds), Sam Fairley of Hattiesburg High six, Charlene Green out of South Pike High in Magnolia and Courtney Lacoste of Hancock County High, four each; and Shundrea Windham of Laurel High two.
    Latoria Holder led the Lady Wolves with 16 points, followed by Brandi Simmons with 15, Rachel Vigers 13, Kristin Newsom and Paige Webster, eight each; Shareka Hunt six, Naketa Roberts four, Nadia Collins three, and Rokeiya Adams two.
    The River shot a dismal 37 percent (20 of 54) from the field to Co-Lin’s 31-of-59 (52.5 percent) effort, while the Lady Wildcats were five of 22 (22.7 percent) from three-point range to the Lady Wolfpack’s one-of-seven (14.3 percent) showing. At the foul line, PRCC was 13 of 19 (68.4 percent), while CLCC was 12 of 16 (75 percent).
    Copiah-Lincoln defeated Pearl River 91-76 in a previous meeting played Jan. 25 in Poplarville.