Maroon Tide rallies past Pass Christian 51-47

by Carey Meitzler

Kelly Wise Memorial Gymnasium has been the site of some great basketball games in its forty years of existence.  The Picayune

Maroon Tide added another one to the list with a dramatic 51-47 come from behind victory over the Pass Christian Pirates.  Senior

Wayne Mickel's two free throws with :06 left iced the game for Picayune.

Picayune led 15-9 after one quarter as Mickel hit two three pointers and junior David McClain added another. But in the second

quarter, Pass Christian erased Picayune's 23-16 advantage in the second quarter with a 11-0 run to go up 27-23.  Junior Jessie

Ulmer scored for the Maroon Tide to cut it to 27-25 with :15 left, but Armond Porter scored with :01 left to make it 29-25 at the

half. 

Pass Christian extended their lead to 40-32 at the end of the third quarter.

Ben Daly and Wayne Mickel apply a double team against the Pirates' Willis Brownlee.

Early in the fourth quarter, things appeared bleak for the Maroon Tide.  Pass Christian's Porter scored on a driving lay up

to put the Pirates up 42-34 with 6:01 to play.  But, Picayune got a lay up from junior David McClain on a nifty assist from fellow

junior Brandon Fortenberry with 5:36 left.  Moments later, Fortenberry was fouled with 4:24 left as he drove to the basket, but

he missed both free throws. On the second miss, junior Ben Daly tipped the ball off the backboard to keep it alive and junior

Chris Dees stuck it back in for a bucket to make it 42-38 . 

With 3:48 to play, McClain scored on an assist from Dees and converted a free throw to complete the three point play to cut it

to 42-41.  Chris Dees stole the ball on the other end and got the ball to Wayne Mickel who went the length of the court and

accelerated past the Pirate defense for a lay up and a 43-42 lead for Picayune with 2:42 left.

David McClain, who had a solid game for the Maroon Tide, scores on an assist from Chris Dees.

Wayne Mickel is fouled by Pass Christian's (14) Demetrius Lee.

Pass Christian regained the lead on Willis Brownlee's bucket, but Dees scored on an assist from Mickel to give Picayune

a 45-44 lead.  Dees was fouled on the play, but missed his free throw with 2:07 left.  The Pirates responded with a basket

by Demetrius Lee to lead 46-45 with 1:50 left.

Dees scored again on another assist from Mickel to lead 47-46 with 1:06 left.  On the next possession for Pass Christian,

Armond Porter was fouled, but missed both free throws with :49 left.  Picayune extended their lead to 49-46 on a lay up

by Fortenberry on an assist from Mickel with :17 to play.

Picayune fouled Blake Evans as he drove to the basket.  Evans missed the first free throw, but made the second one to cut

the lead to 49-47 with :09 left.  Pass Christian called time out immediately after the second free throw.  After the Pirate

time out, Picayune was forced to call a time out when they could not get the inbounds pass executed.   After the Maroon Tide

time out, they were able to get the ball in the hands of Mickel who was fouled with :06 left and sank both free throws to

seal the victory.

McClain paced the balanced scoring for Picayune (16-2, 4-1) with 14 points while snatching 5 rebounds.  Mickel finished

with 13 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals.  Brandon Fortenberry had 10 points and 4 rebounds.  Dees had 10 points and 5 rebounds.

Pass Christian (14-3, 3-2) was led by Brownlee with 15 points.  Porter finished the game with 13 points.

Picayune will host Columbia in a non-region contest on Saturday with JV Boys and Varsity Girls action as well.

Girls:  Pass Christian 65  Picayune 35

Janea Wills (pictured below) led the Lady Tide with 14 points.