By Curtis Rockwell, Sports Editor
The Picayune Item
BAY ST. LOUIS —
Pearl River Central appeared a bit sluggish coming off a 10-day lay-off as it faced Oak Grove in the opening round of the Bay High Christmas Tournament Thursday afternoon. The unbeaten Lady Warriors were anything but that. Oak Grove used a 15-0 run in the first half to jump out to a 23-4 lead and cruise to a 62-42 win in the opening game of the opening day of this annual event.
The Lady Warriors are 16-0, and the Lady Devils drop to 7-7 with the loss.
Oak Grove used a suffocating zone defense to force PRC into six unforced turnovers in the first quarter, and then the Lady Warriors took advantage of those miscues. Leading 8-4 with three minutes left in the opening frame, Samantha Duncan and Arrianna Magee each hit 3-pointers to fuel the decisive 15-0 run in a six minute span that stretched into the second stanza.
Sabrina Miller’s 3-pointer for PRC broke the streak, but at that point it was 23-7 Oak Grove.
Miller’s big basket began an 11-2 run for the Lady Devils to close the half, that was capped by a 3-pointer from Jordan Cobello, and PRC trailed just 25-15 at halftime.
But any thoughts PRC had of an upset and of handing the Lady Warriors their first loss of the season were quickly laid to rest in the third frame, as Oak Grove began the third period with a 7-1 run that included a 3-pointer by Kaylan Watts. That spurt helped the Lady Warriors double up PRC at 32-16, and the Lady Devils never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.
Caroline Lumpkin tallied 12 points to pace PRC, while Cobello added 11 points and Miller nine points. Jessica Powers had 10 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks for the Lady Devils.
Duncan led Oak Grove with a game high 16 points, and Watts added 15 points.
PRC will play at 2:30 today, against either Bay High or Biloxi. Those teams met in the final game of the night Thursday.
Oak Grove was the second unbeaten team entering the tournament,, as the host Lady Tigers were also 16-0 going into the opening day of the event.
There are four games on tap today as well as four more on Saturday in the final round of play.
Other teams competing are Pass Christian, Long Beach, Hancock and Pascagoula.
