River sweeps Hinds

POPLARVILLE Pearl River Community College swept Hinds in men and women MACJC South Division basketball action here Thursday in Shivers Gymnasium. The ninth-ranked Wildcats took a 73-63 victory over the visiting Bulldogs, while the Lady Wildcats were 72-60 winners, marking their first division win of the 2010-2011 season. PRCC men are now 13-1 overall and perfect at 3-0 in division play, while its women are 4-7 and 1-2. Both Hinds squads dropped to 4-8 and 0-3. In the men game, Pearl River led the entire game, grabbing a 13-2 lead with a mere five minutes gone. Hinds bounced back with an impressive 10-4 scoring surge to cut the Wildcats lead to 17-12 with 9:15 left in the half, but Vincent Gable of Picayune High answered with a three pointer to kick off a 14-2 run to build The River lead to 17 31-14 at the 4:11 mark. The Bulldogs outscored the Wildcats 13-7 during the remaining time, but trailed 38-27 at the intermission. Hinds opened the second half with a 12-5 run to pull to withing four 43-39 with 14:30 remaining, but was as close as the Bulldogs would get. PRCC built its lead to as large as 16 points 71-55 in the final three minutes. Erik Burks led HCC with 19 points (eight rebounds, three treys), while Derek Burks added 11 (three treys, seven assists), Adam Smith 10, Trevis Thomas eight (five rebounds), Howard Greer (five rebounds) and Russell Williams (seven assists), six each; and Obarcus Taylor three. Phillip Crawford out of Murphy High in Mobile, Ala., paced the Wildcats with a game-high 24 points (10 rebounds, four steals); while Troy University signee Emil Jones of North Forrest High added 18 (10 rebounds, five steals, four assists), Pedro Maciel, a Centenary University transfer who prepped at St. Stanislaus, nine (five rebounds, seven assists); Daron Bell of Bay High and Mashun McGee out of Bailey Magnet High in Jackson, seven each; Gable five, and Kentari Nettles, another Mobile recruit who prepped at LeFlore High, three. Hinds men hit 35.5 percent (22 of 62) from the field to Pearl River 44.6 percent (25 of 56), while the Bulldogs were seven of 22 (31.8 percent) from three-point range to the Wildcats four-of-13 (30.8 percent) effort. HCC was 12 of 18 (66.7 percent) at the foul line, while PRCC was 19 of 29 (65.5 percent). The River out-rebounded Hinds 43-37. In the women game, the Lady Bulldogs led only once, grabbing a brief 6-5 edge five minutes into the contest; while the Lady Wildcats held their visitors scoreless for nearly four minutes midway into the first half and built a comfortable 11-point lead 20-9 with 10:12 left before the break. Pearl River led by as many as 12 points in the first half when a basket by Alayna Bridges of Oak Grove High made 29-17 with 4:35 left, but Hinds answered with a 5-0 run to pull to within seven. PRCC held on to a 33-22 lead at the intermission. PRCC held on to a double-digit lead for the majority of the second half, grabbing a 21-point advantage its largest of the game at 69-48 in the final minutes. Kenya Wright paced Hinds with a game-high 28 points (two treys, seven steals), while Carmen Smith added seven (six rebounds, Lashondra Dunson (two treys) and Raven Hubbard (five rebounds), six each; Sharalyn McClain four, and Kemeikia Bullock (six rebounds), Tyeshia Kidd, Tabitha Graham, and Deondre Simpson, two a piece. Bridges (seven rebounds) and Kenyatta Epps of Yazoo City High (two treys) led the Lady Wildcats with 13 points each, while Quentessa Bullock of East Marion High and Branita Malone (five rebounds) out of Choctaw High in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., scored eight each. Nicole Holder of Lumberton High (six rebounds) and Shandell Peters of East Marion High added seven each, while Francheska Bowman, another Choctaw (Fla.) High recruit, scored six (seven rebounds, two blocks, three steals); Toy Johnson of Pascagoula High three (four assists), and Charlene Green out of South Pike in Magnolia, Samantha Gunn out of Velma Jackson in Canton, and Francheska McMahon out of Lewisburg High in Hernando, two a piece; and Eugena Fry out of Wingfield High in Jackson, one. Hinds hit 36.7 percent (22 of 60) from the field to Pearl River 47.5 percent (28 of 59), while the Lady Bulldogs were four of 14 (28.6 percent) from three-point range to the Lady Wildcats two-of-seven (28.6 percent) effort. HCC was 12 of 21 (57.1 percent) at the foul line, while PRCC was 14 of 29 (48.3 percent). The River out-rebounded Hinds 48-35. Pearl River returns to action Tuesday when MACJC South Division rival Jones County plays host in Ellisville for games at 6 p.m. (women) and 8 p.m. (men) before traveling to division rival Mississippi Gulf Coast in Perkinston Thursday, Jan. 20, for contests at the same game times. PRCC eyes a pair of rematches with Hinds Monday, Feb. 7, in Utica.