Friday, January 22, 2010

River splits at East Central
Lady ’Cats fall 84-83 in OT, ’Cats win 59-54

    DECATUR — Pearl River Community College split with East Central in women’s and men’s MACJC South Division basketball action here Thursday.
    The Lady Wildcats fell 84-84 to the Lady Warriors in overtime to drop to 7-9 overall and 1-4 in division play, while the Wildcats took a hard-fought 59-54 decision to improve to 12-4 and 3-2. East Central’s women improved to 10-6 and 2-3, while its men are now 5-11 and 1-4.
    In the women’s game, ECCC led 45-29 at the intermission, but PRCC bounced back to blow out the Lady Warriors 42-26 in the second half to knot things up at 71-all at the end of regulation and push things into overtime. East Central edged Pearl River 13-12 in the OT period to take the one-point victory.
    Pearl River was 30 of 89 (33.7 percent) from the field to East Central’s 26-of-74 (35.1 percent) effort, while the Lady Wildcats sank a six of 23 three-point attempts (26.1 percent) to the Lady Warriors’ 10-of-24 (41.7 percent) showing. At the foul line, PRCC was 17 of 32 (53.1 percent), while ECCC was 22 of 39 (56.4 percent).
    Kenyatta Epps of Yazoo City paced The River with 23 points, including four three pointers; Brittany Weathers of Oak Grove added 19 and hauled in 12 rebounds. Nicole Holder of Lumberton High boasted 17 points and 17 boards — both career-high totals — while Sam Fairley of Hattiesburg High added 10, Charlene Green of South Pike six, and Courtney Lacoste of Hancock County and Shandell Peters of East Marion, four each.
    For East Central, Yolanda Jones led the way with a game-high 25 points, while Hannah Lee added 15, Danielle Cole 11, Shantel Neely nine, Quentinette Odom seven, Shanequa Bufkin six, Bianca Thomas four, Demetria Slocum three, and Alise Bryant and Sharae Pigues, two each.
    In men’s action, PRCC led 26-23 at the break, then outscored ECCC 33-31 in the second half to take the five-point victory.
    Pearl River was 24 of 49 (49 percent) from the field to East Central’s 21-of-71 (29.6 percent) effort, while the Wildcats were 10 of 22 (45.5 percent) at the foul line to the Warriors’ seven-of-18 (38.8 percent) effort.
    Zach Vickers of Laurel Hill, Fla., paced PRCC with 19 points and 11 rebounds — both game-high totals — while Kenderek Washingtonn of Hinds AHS added eight and grabbed nine boards. Denzel McDaniel of Mobile, Ala., and Josh Moore of Jackson (Forest Hill) added six each, while Mykael Keeler of Oak Grove and Rod Little of Moss Point scored five each. Phillip Crawford of Mobile, Ala., and Emil Jones of North Forrest scored four, while Tre Brown of Ocean Springs added two.
    Keondre Hodges led ECCC with 13 points, while Jasper Bronson, Kendall lJackson, and Kenneth Thomas added nine a piece. Shelton Banks scored five, Antonio Grace four, and Kendrick McKee and Jonathan McLenden, two each.
    Pearl River hosts East Central in a division rematch Monday, Feb. 15, in Poplarville.
    PRCC returns home to host a pair of division rivals next week. Copiah-Lincoln visits Monday, while Jones County arrives Thursday. Both dates see 5 p.m. (women) and 7 p.m. (men) tip off times.