By CURTIS ROCKWELL

Item Sports Editor

BAY ST. LOUIS — Homestanding St. Stanislaus edged Pearl River Central in a battle for the top spot in division 8-4A Wednesday night, 67-58.

The Blue Devils had a chance late to tie the game up after trailing the entire second half, but came up just short.

“We gave a great effort, and for the most part it’s encouraging that we played the number six team in the state as close as we did on their home court,” PRC head coach Alan Lumpkin said. “But we also realize we had a chance to beat them at the end, and that we couldn’t pull it out is disappointing as well.”

With the win, The Rockachaws remained perfect in league play at 3-0 and PRC falls to 2-1 in the loop and 10-7 overall. The Rockachaws are 17-1 overall, and ranked sixth in the state by The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson.

St. Stanislaus held a slight edge throughout the first half, and went into the half ahead 29-27. But the first few minutes of the second half were the key to the game, as the Rocks went ahead by 10 after an 8-0 run to begin the third frame.

“That was the turning point, no doubt about it,” Lumpkin added. “We just had a spell where we didn’t play very good defense and it cost us.”

But the Blue Devils weren’t finished, and neither was Reggie Fowler. Fowler, who had a game high 24 points, hit five 3-pointer’s in the fourth quarter alone to lead PRC back.

In fact, the Blue Devils had the ball down just three with the ball with two minutes to play but the Rocks made a great defense play to seal the win.

Also, SSC made 14 of 17 free throws in the fourth period to pull out the win.

Bradley Baker added 17 points to the PRC cause.

The Blue devils committed 18 turnovers in the loss as well.

“We were right there at the end, and didn’t play as well as we can,” Lumpkin concluded. “But we’ll get another chance.”

PRC is playing its first six league games on the road, before hosting its final six divison games at home.

The Blue Devils travel to Long Beach for another league encounter Friday night.