Maroon Tide punch their ticket to the Final Four
Published 11:39 am Monday, February 27, 2023
The Picayune Maroon Tide basketball team beat the West Jones Mustangs, 62-42, and advanced to the Final Four this Tuesday, Feb, 28 at The Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson Ms. Picayune will play the Provine Rams at 8:30 p.m.
Recap – First Quarter
Troy Carter and the Mustangs’, Kennon Loftin scored their team’s first points. The Mustangs took a 5-4 lead, but it would be their last time with the lead after Tyran Warren converted two free throws. Niquis Ratcliff scored back-to-back layups, then the Mustangs go 1-2 from the line to make the score 10-6. Dakeith Quinn converted an And1 layup to put the Maroon Tide up 13-6.
Second Quarter
The Mustangs were on the board first for a 13-8 score. Warren scored back-to-back buckets giving Picayune an 18-8 lead at the 4:55 mark. The Mustangs picked their game up and scored on an 8-3 run over Picayune to end the quarter. Picayune still led at 21-16.
Third Quarter
West Jones started applying defensive pressure and sped up Picayune’s game up with a full-court press. It worked for a while as Picayune’s lead shrunk to a one-point deficit midway through the quarter. With Picayune up 27-26, a layup from Josh Holmes and Ratcliff began a big run for Picayune. At the end of the quarter, they were up by 10 again, 40-30.
Fourth Quarter
The final quarter was Picayune’s to take, West Jones’ pressure was deflating play-by-play and Picayune scored on every opportunity. They would go on a 9-2 run for 3 minutes and then an even 10-10 scoring run to end the game.
Stats
Holmes had a team-high 16 points, Darrell Smith had 12, Quinn had 9 and Ratcliff had 8 pts.
On the other side of the bracket is the Canton Tigers vs the Hattiesburg Tigers, their match-up is also on Tuesday at 7 p.m.