Pearl River Central completed its first girls/boys sweep of the young basketball season with narrow wins against Stone on Thursday in Wiggins.
The Lady Devils won a 32-30 nailbiter, holding on when the Lady Tomcats could not get off a shot in the closing seconds.
PRC, which relied on a solid 1-3-1 zone for much of the night, led 15-6 at the half, marking its most significant game lead. Stone cut into the deficit in the second half and trailed 22-19 after three quarters, but the Lady Devils (2-3) made several clutch plays down the stretch to hold on.
“We were 4-for-17 on layups, so we easily could have lost this game,” said PRC Coach Cliff Bauer. “We were fortunate in some ways tonight, but it’s better to come out with a win than a loss.”
The win avenged a close loss to Stone last year.
Caitlyn Cruz led the Lady Devils with 11 points, and Marley Herring added 10.
PRC won the boy’s game, 43-37, behind a solid defensive effort.
At halftime, the teams were tied at 23. Devils Coach Scott Stephens made a defensive adjustment that paid off.
“We went to a 1-3-1 zone in the third quarter, and that caused them to struggle a little bit,” said Scott Stephens, in his ninth year at the helm in Carriere. “I thought everyone did their job defensively, and we could limit them to one shot on most possessions.”
Thursday’s game marked the first time that Stephens had his entire roster of players. He picked up five players from the football team, which just completed a successful run to the playoffs. According to Stephens, all five played and contributed on Thursday.
“It (having a full roster) made a big difference because, without them, there’s a small margin for error when you’re only playing seven or eight guys,” Stephens said. “Having everybody adds a lot of depth; we can play 10 to 12 people. It allows us to play the brand of basketball that we want to.”
Konnor Cazenave led the Devils (2-2) with 16 points, and John Feaster Jr. added nine.
Dawson Kennedy grabbed ten rebounds, and Roman Mitchell had six boards.
“After that win, I’d say we’re probably where we need to be about now,” Stephens said. “But we still have a long way to go.”