Terek Whitehead and Pearl River Central will invade Kelly Wise Gym tonight to face off with arch-rival Picayune on the hardwood.
Photo by Curtis Rockwell

VANCLEAVE – Pearl River Central captured the championship of the Vancleave Christmas Classic here over the weekend.

The Blue Devils hope that momentum can carry over to tonight’s big match-up.

Pearl River Central travels to Kelly Wise Gym to take on arch-rival and homestanding Picayune. The girls game is set to begin at 6, with the boys game to follow around 7:30.

“We definitely hope it’s something we can build on,” first year PRC head coach Matt Noblitt said. “We played pretty well offensively in the tournament. I hope we are finding our groove.”

The Blue Devils had a pair of players make the all-tournament team, in Alex Travis and Terek Whitehead. Travis poured in a game high 23 points in the win in the title tilt, a 66-46 win over the host Vancleave team Saturday night.

The Blue Devils beat East Central in Friday’s semifinals, 65-42. Travis tallied a team high 16 points, while Seth McCoy and Drew Cruz each added 13 points apiece to the winning cause.

Travis, PRC’s leading scorer, missed the Blue Devils district opener, a loss on the road to Natchez, with an injury.

The Blue Devils are coming into tonight’s game off a 58-39 loss on the road Monday to St. Stanislaus,. Mitchell Walk had 13 points and 11 rebounds to pace the Rockachaws.

“We probably didn’t play as well defensively in the two wins in Vancleave as we can, and I think that kind of carried over into the loss against St. Stanislaus,” Noblitt added. “That’s something we need to work on before we play Picayune, because they are very good offensively.”

The PRC girls also saw action in the Vancleave event earning third place honors with a 32-25 win over St. Patrick’s. Brandi Lee tallied 14 points for the winners, while Kim Gutierrez added 11 points.

On Friday, East Central beat PRC 38-28. Brandi Lee had 13 points for the Lady Devils.

The PRC girls are on a two game winning streak coming into tonight’s game against Picayune. The Lady Devils beat homestanding Our Lady Academy 36-7 on Monday. Brandi Lee recorded a double-double in the win, as she scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. LeDeja Connley chipped in seven points and seven rebounds in the winning effort,

Picayune’s boys are coming off a big win over West Harrison coming iinto tonight’s big battle.

Shemar Williams tallied 26 points to pace Picayune, while Donovan Rice added 24 points to the winning cause in a 72-65 overtime win over the Hurricanes in the finals of the Picayune Holiday Tournament. Picayune trailed by eight points in the third quarter before rallying to pull out the win.