Hornets, PRC fall in title games

Sports

February 16, 2013

Hornets, PRC fall in title games

By Curtis Rockwell, Sports Editor The Picayune Item Picayune Item Sat Feb 16, 2013, 08:11 AM CST

PICAYUNE — The boys basketball teams from both Poplarville and Pearl River Central played for district championships Friday night.

Neither the Hornets or Blue Devils would come away with a crown, however.

In Leakesville, Poplarville led by as much as 13 points in the second half only to watch top-seeded St. Stanislaus rally in stunning fashion and pull out a 53-50 win in the Division 8-4A championship game.

Poplarville will host Quitman in the opening round of the Class 4A South State playoffs Tuesday night.

Ramon Tate scored a game high 27 points for the Rock-A-Chaws, including 15 in a decisive fourth quarter as SSC outscored the Hornets 22-11 in the final frame to take the win.

Anthony Martin paced Poplarville with 18 points and Nigel Wood added 10 points.

The Blue Devils fell to top-seed West Harrison 64-51 in the Division 8-5A championship game at Kelly Wise Gym in Picayune.

The PRC boys will now hit the road to Waynesboro and take on Wayne County Tuesday night in the opening round of the Class 5A South State playoffs.

Pearl River Central opened the game in a slow down mode offensively, trying to entice the Hurricanes to come out of their zone defense.

West Harrison was up 10-6 after the opening quarter, and when Harvey Smart hit a driving lay-up three minutes into the second stanza the Hurricanes had a 17-0 lead.

PRC’s Drew Cruz buried a 3-pointer seconds later, to cut the WHHS lead to 17-13. But the ‘Canes responded with a 10-2 run over the next four minutes, and a trey by Paul Thibodeaux made it 27-15 with less than a minute to play before intermission.

PRC’s Ashton Woodson, who scored eight points in the second quarter, hit two of three free throws with three seconds remaining to make the count 27-17 at halftime.

The Hurricanes began the second half with a 9-2 run in the first three minutes of the third frame, capped by Harvey Smart’s 3-pointer that made it 36-17.

Cruz nailed another trey to kick off a bit of a spurt by PRC, making it 37-27 two minutes later. But the Blue Devils would never cut the deficit below double digits for the remainder of the game.

“Having never been this far before, I don’t think our guys really knew what to expect until the game started,” first year PRC head coach Ronnie Bowens, who has guided the Blue Devils to their first playoff appearance in school history, said. “We kind of shot ourselves in the foot early. We got some stops but we just couldn’t get any rebounds. They are a really good team. They have won 26 games for a reason.”

West Harrison, who swept three games from PRC this season, will open the playoffs at home Tuesday against West Jones.

Woodson paced PRC with 16 points, while Cruz chipped in 11 points and Dennan Seal scored eight points for the Blue Devils.

Smart scored a game high 17 points for the Hurricanes.

Text Only

Sports

Saints ready to practice with Payton again
Even as Sean Payton tried to make the best of his one-season bounty banishment from the NFL by spending time with his children, getting in shape and playing golf, he often compared his punishment to prison time.
He missed his work that much, his players say, adding that his return has infused Saints headquarters with a fresh intensity leading up to Tuesday’s opening of voluntary offseason practices.

May 22, 2013
Wildcats honored for efforts
Ten Pearl River Community College baseball standouts have earned 2013 post-season honors with center fielder Braxton Lee and catcher-designated hitter Krisjon Wilkerson leading the way with All-Region 23 and All-MACJC first- team accolades.

May 22, 2013
Season ends for Maroon Tide
Picayune’s magical playoff run came up just short of a spot in the state finals.
Homestanding Pascagoula, the defending Class 5A state champs, took a hard-fought 5-3 win over the Maroon Tidee in game three of the best of three South State finals here Saturday before a capacity crowd at Ingalls Field.

May 21, 2013
Season ends for Maroon Tide
The season came to an end for the Picayune baseball team Saturday afternoon with a 5-3 loss to homestanding Pascagoula here at Ingalls Field in the third and deciding game of the Class 5A South State championship series.

May 18, 2013
Tide stays alive
And it all comes down to this.
Picayune and Pascagoula will face off in a one game, winner take all
showdown today at 2 p.m., at Ingalls Field for the Class A South State
prep baseball championship and the right to play for the state title.

May 18, 2013
Wildcats tring to win Region 23 title
Host Pearl River opened Region 23 Tournament play in dominating fashion here Thursday in Wildcat Stadium, demolishing top-seeded East Central 12-1 in eight innings and now faces second-seeded LSU-Eunice (La.) in Friday’s second round at 7 p.m.

May 18, 2013
Panther pitcher shuts out Maroon Tide
Pascagoula’s Andrew Crane continued his dominance of Picayune Thursday night.

May 17, 2013
Season ends for Lady Hornets
Poplarville's season came to and end in the Class 4A South state finals Tuesday night.
The visiting Lady Hornets fell to Newton County 10-2 in game two of the best-of-three series.

May 16, 2013
Lady Hornets face Newton County
Two more wins, and Poplarville will be playing for the Class 4A state championship in fast-pitch softball.
The Lady Hornets have a chance at getting that first victory today.

May 11, 2013
Polderman’s, Mitchell win titles
The Picayune Maroon Tide and the Pearl River Central Blue Devils both competed in the Class 5A South State track and field championships this past Saturday at Long Beach High School.

May 8, 2013
More Sports Headlines

Sports

Search Results

Hornets, PRC fall in title games

Site Map

Contact Us