Tide gets "Hat Trick" in 52-46 win over Bearcats
by Carey Meitzler
One of the hardest feats in sports is to beat a team during the regular season and then do the same thing again in the playoffs.
The Picayune Maroon Tide had defeated Long Beach twice during the regular season ( 54-52 and 54-40) and earned a "Hat
Trick" with a 52-46 win in the Region 8-4A semi-finals at Pass Christian.
The Bearcats jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the Maroon Tide before Brandon Fortenberry scored on a lay up with 5:55 left in the
first quarter. Long Beach's Jeremy Hill nailed a three pointer to make it 10-2. Picayune responed with a 9-0 run that included
a 3 pointer from David McClain, two baskets from Wayne Mickel, and a short jumper from Chris Dees on an assist from Mickel.
Dees basket put Picayune up 11-10 with 2:15 left, but Hill hit another three pointer to regain the lead at 13-11. Dees scored on
another short jumper in the lane to tie the score at 13-13 with 1:05 left. Mickel then scored on a drive near the base line, was
fouled, and made his free throw to complete the three point play for a 16-13 lead with :16 left. Long Beach's Rashad
Montgomery made one of two free throws with :07 left to make it 16-14 at the end of the quarter.
Brandon Fortenberry (4) drives past Nick Brown. Justin Smith (10) watches his put back go in over Brown.
Hill tied it to open the second quarter and Salvalace Townsend followed with a basket to give Long Beach a 18-16 lead with 6:05
left. After Dees made one of two free throws, Long Beach's Nick Brown scored to make it 20-17 with 4:09 left. David McClain
made it 20-18 as he made the first of two free throws with 3:18 left. Mickel would drive the lane once again and score with
2:05 left to tie the game at 20-20. Brown scored on a put back of a missed shot for Long Beach to give them a 22-20 lead
with just under two minutes left. Brandon Fortenberry pumped home a three pointer with 1:20 left to put Picayune up 23-22.
Brown scored again on an offensive rebound to put Long Beach up 24-23 with :55 left. Fortenberry hit another three pointer
with :41 left to regain the lead for Picayune at 26-24. Long Beach played for the last shot, but missed and Picayune's Fortenberry
grabbed the loose ball and started up the court and lofted a shot from the back court side of half court with :01 left that floated
through the air and found the bottom of the basket from 40 feet away to push the margin to 29-24 at the half.
Wayne Mickel (3) drives past Salvalace Townsend; Mickel fires a jumper over Long Beach's Bryan Jacobs (4).
Long Beach scored the first four points in the third quarter to cut it to 29-28. Ben Daly hit one of two free throws with
6:24 left to make it 30-28. Dees scored on an assist from Mickel for a 32-28 lead, but Salvalace Townsend's three pointer
brought Long Beach to within one at 32-31. With 3:56 left, Nick Brown scored on another put back and was fouled. He
made his free throw to complete the three point play and give the Bearcats a 34-32 lead. Daly scored on an offensive
rebound to tie the score at 34-34 with 3:01 left. Mickel hit two free throws with 2:24 left for a 36-34 lead. Hill tied it at
36-36 on a short running jumper and Ira Smith scored on a lay up to give the Bearcats a 38-36 lead with 1:45 left. Dees
was fouled in the act of shooting and calmly sank both free throws to tie it at 38-38 with 1:16 left.
Chris Dees (center) gets ready to take a swat at Jeremy Hill's shot.
Picayune's Ben Daly collected his 4th personal foul with 6:35 to play and was forced to the bench. Justin Smith came in
the game for Daly and would come up big for the Maroon Tide down the stretch. Dees stole the ball on an errant
Bearcat pass and set up Justin Smith on a lay up to give the Maroon Tide a 40-38 lead with 6:11 left. After Bryan Jacobs
tied it with a lay up, Dees took a nice entry pass from Shun Smith and scored on a short jumper off the glass. He was
fouled on the play and converted the free throw for a 43-40 lead with 4:51 left. Townsend cut the lead to 43-42 with two
free throws, but Dees scored on a put back of his own miss to make it 45-42 with 3:01 left. Hill scored for Long Beach
with 2:50 left to cut it to 45-44, but Justin Smith scored on an offensive rebound with 2:24 left for a 47-44 lead. After
Shun Smith missed two free throws with 1:19 left, Fortenberry was fouled and made one of two for a 48-44 lead with :58
left. Townsend brought Long Beach within a bucket by making one of two free throws with :49 left. With :31 left,
Fortenberry hit two free throws to give Picayune a 50-46 lead. After a Long Beach time out, McClain iced the game
for the Maroon Tide when he stole the ball from Townsend and raced the length of the court for a lay up with :15 left.
David McClain (33) gets ready to defend Bryan Jacobs (4).
Dees and Fortenberry each scored 14 points for Picayune (25-5). Dees also pulled down a
game-high 8 rebounds.Wayne Mickel added 11 points and McClain chipped in 6 points.
Justin Smith had his 4 points in the fourth quarter.
Nick Brown and Jeremy Hill each scored 12 points for Long Beach and Townsend finished
with 11 points.
Picayune will play Pass Christian for the Region 8-4A championship at 8:30pm.
Long Beach (15-15) will take on St Stanislaus at 5:30pm for third place.