Thursday, February 25, 2010

Wildcats facing host Lions in MACJC state title bout
Pearl River smacks Itawamba, East Miss trims Jones County in OT in Wednesday’s semi-finals to set stage for men’s state championship game

    SCOOBA — Pearl River head coach Richard Mathis will be gunning for his fifth MACJC state basketball championship in his 19-year stint with the Wildcats here Thursday after disposing of a scrappy Itawamba squad 79-71 in Wednesday’s state tournament semi-finals.
    South No. 1 seed PRCC, which won its 16th-straight game with the victory to improve to 22-4 on the year, will square off with host East Mississippi, the North No. 1 seed and ranked No. 12 nationally, at 7:30 p.m. in Keyes Currie Coliseum on the ECCC campus in Scooba.
    East Miss, which thumped South No. 2 and defending state champion Jones County 81-79 in overtime in Wednesday’s nightcap game, will be shooting for it’s first men’s hoops championship since the 1932-33 season.
    Mathis, an EMCC alumnus, has already guided his previous 18 Wildcat squads to four titles — 1994-95, 1997-98, 2002-2003, and 2003-2004 — as well as another men’s title at Northeast Mississippi and a women’s championship at East Mississippi.
    “On the defensive side, we played solidly,” Mathis said of the semi-final victory. “We kind of let them (ICC) come back on us a bit in the second half, but we hung in there and pulled out the win.
    “We’ll got our hands full against East Mississippi. They’re a very well-coached and talented team that beat another well-coached and talented team in Jones. Plus they’ll be playing on their home court...that’s always an advantage.”
    Pearl River struggled early against Itawamba. After Kenderek Washington of Hinds AHS hit a basket to put the Wildcats up 5-2 five minutes into the contest, the Indians held PRCC scoreless for the next five-plus minutes and built its lead to 13-5 with an 11-0 run.
    But The River answered. Washington’s free throw with 9:52 left before the break kicked off a 21-2 scoring surge that propelled the Wildcats to a 26-15 advantage at the intermission.
    The Indians were held scoreless for over nine minutes before Jeremy Word swished a pair of foul shots with 43 seconds left before the break. PRCC point Desmond Ratliff of Canton High sank a desperation “hail Mary” trey — the length of the court — at the buzzer to give the Wildcats their 11-point advantage at the half.
    Pearl River opened the second half with a 23-12 run to build its lead to 49-27 — its largest of the game — with 10:51 left. But Itawamba showed reslience, managing to cut the Wildcats’ lead to six twice in the final minute.
    PRCC went five-for-six at the foul line in the final 36 seconds before ICC’s Wendell Williams sank a length-of-the-court three pointer at the final buzzer for the last points of the game.
    Melvin Morgan led the Indians with a game-high 28 points, including an eight-for-eight effort at the free throw line; while Jeremy Word added 16 (two treys) and was four-for-four at the foul line. Vincenzo Nelson scored 10, Williams eight, Akeem Caddell six (two treys), and Todd Nelson three.
    Washington paced The River with 23 points (nine rebounds, three assists, two treys), while Ratliff hit a season-high 17 (seven rebounds). Emil Jones of North Forrest High added 12 (10 rebounds, two treys), Rod Little of Moss Point High 11, Phillip Crawford out of Murphy High in Mobile, Ala., six, a game-high 15 boards, and blocked three shots; LaKendrick Maye of Prentiss High six, and Kegan Houston of Quitman High and Josh Moore out of Forest Hill High in Jackson, two each.
    Itawamba was 26 of 65 (40 percent) from the field to Pearl River’s 25-of-66 (37.9 percent) effort, while the Indians hit 33.3 percent (six of 18) from three-point range to the Wildcats’ 38.5 percent (five of 13) showing. Both teams wowed at the foul line with ICC hitting 92.9 percent (13 of 14) and PRCC 82.8 percent (24 of 29).
    The River hauled in a dominating 53 rebounds (25 offensive, 28 defensive) in the game to Itawamba’s 30 (12 offensive, 18 defensive).
    On the women’s side, undefeated (25-0) and third-ranked Copiah-Lincoln (South No. 1), which bashed North No. 2 Itawamba 70-63 in the semi-finals, will face off with South No. 2 and defending state champ Jones County, an 85-82 semi-final winner over North No. 1 Northwest Mississippi, at 5:30 p.m. in the women’s state title bout.