Wednesday, January 13, 2010

River splits with Perk
Lady Wildcats 80-59 losers, Wildcats stun Bulldogs 86-75 in MACJC South Division basketball twin bill

     POPLARVILLE — Pearl River Community College’s Wildcats bashed arch-rival Mississippi Gulf Coast 86-75, while the Lady Wildcat squad fell 80-59 to the Lady Bulldogs in MACJC South Division basketball action here Monday in Shivers Gymnasium.
     PRCC’s women dropped to 6-7 overall and 1-2 in division play, while its men improved to 9-4 and 1-2. MGCCC’s ladies improved to 5-9 and 1-2, while its men fell to 10-4 and 0-3.
     In the men’s game, the Wildcats capitalized on an amazing 60.9 percent (14 of 23) effort from three-point range to take the much-needed South Division victory.
     “This was a vital win for us,” said PRCC head coach Richard Mathis, who’s amidst his 19th year with the Wildcats. “Going in, we were winless at 0-2 in the division and you can’t afford to drop to 0-3 when only four of the six teams in the South get berths in the state tournament. It’s very hard to catch up when you get to that point.”
     Gulf Coast never led in the contest, but managed to grab a 4-4 tie in the opening minutes. Pearl River built its lead to 29-17 at the 8:40 mark before the Bulldogs put together a 9-3 run to pull to within six — 32-26 — off a trey by Raymond Cintron with six minutes left before the break.
     The Wildcats managed to rebuild its lead to 16 twice over the next four minutes before going scoreless to Gulf Coast’s five point in the final 1:39 to make things 46-35 at the intermission.
     PRCC built its lead to as many as 17 points — 63-46 — in the first five minutes of the second half when Emil Jones of North Forrest bucketed one of his three treys. MGCCC bounced back with a 13-5 run to pull to within nine — 68-59 — with 10:23 left before Kenderek Washington of Hinds AHS capped a 12-5 Wildcat scoring surge to put PRCC up 80-64.
     Cintron followed with two blanks at the foul line in one-on-one situations, but followed with one of his three three-pointers in the game to kick off an 11-6 run to end the game trailing The River by nine.
     Gulf Coast was 25 of 42 (59.5 percent) from the field to Pearl River’s 31-of-70 (44.3 percent) effort, while the Bulldogs sank a seven of 15 three-point attempts (46.7 percent). At the foul line, MGCCC was 18 of 25 (72 percent), while PRCC was 10 of 14 (71.4 percent).
     The Wildcats held a 21-14 advantage on the boards.
     Travis Rasco paced the Bulldogs with a game-high 24 points, while Cintron added 13, Marvin Adams 11, Marlon Williams eight, Calvin Walker and Matt Washington, six each; Willis Brownlee three, and Carneillus Denson and T.J. Bowie, two each.
     Washington led PRCC with 22 points (seven rebounds, three treys, while Josh Moore of Jackson (Forest Hill) added 12 (four treys), Jones(five rebounds) and Rod Little of Moss Point (three treys), 11 each; Phillip Crawford of Mobile, Ala., 10 (six rebounds), Denzel McDaniel of Mobile, Ala., and Desmond Ratliff of Canton (six assists), seven each; and Mychael Keeler of Oak Grove six.
     In women’s action, the score was tied six times and the lead exchanged hand seven times in the first half. PRCC’s Kenyatta Epps of Yazoo City, who finished the game with a career-high six three-pointers, hit a bucket at the 4:15 mark before the break to knot things up for the last time at 23-23, but MGCCC’s Kiara Johnson answered with a pair of foul shots to snap the stalemate and the Lady Bulldogs never looked back.
     Pearl River kept it close in the first half but never regained the lead and trailed 32-20 at the intermission.
     MGCCC opened the second half with a dominating 26-11 run to build its lead to 17 — 58-41 — with some 10 minutes left. From that point, the Lady Bulldogs put together a 17-11 scoring surge to grab its largest lead of the game 75-52 (23 points) before coasting to the 21-point win.
     Gulf Coast was 33 of 74 (44.6 percent) from the field to Pearl River’s 21-of-52 (40.4 percent) effort, while the Lady Bulldogs sank four of 21 three-point attempts (19 percent) to the Lady Wildcats’ six-of-15 (40 percent) showing. At the foul line, MGCCC was 10 of 14 (71.4 percent), while PRCC was 11 of 18 (61.1 percent).
     The Lady Wildcats were victimized by 25 turnovers to the Lady ‘Dogs’ 11. Seventeen of PRCC’s TOs came via steals, including 11 by Johnson who also finished with a game-high 28 points.
     Besides Johnson, who also grabbed six boards and was six for six at the foul line, Brianne Collins added 19 points (four treys), Kaci Burkhalter (eight rebounds) and Ebony Davis (eight rebounds), eight each; Deonica McCormick seven, Brooke Eccles and Michelle Millende, four each; and Samantha Butcher two.
     Epps paced Pearl River with a career-high 27 points, while Sam Fairley of Hattiesburg High (eight rebounds) and Brittany Weathers of Oak Grove (six rebounds) added 11 each. Courtney Lacoste of Hancock County scored four, while Nicole Holder of Lumberton High (five rebounds), Charlene Green of South Pike, and Shandell Peters of East Marion added two a piece.
     PRCC’s women and men host Delgado (La.) Thursday at 5 p.m. (women) and 7 p.m. (men) before eyeing more MACJC South Division action Tuesday with a road trip to Southwest Mississippi in Summit for a women’s and men’s twin bill starting at the same game times.