Lady Tide rally falls short to Lady Jags 47-44

Maroon Tide pulls away from Pope John Paul 75-60

by Carey Meitzler

The Picayune Lady Tide almost pulled out their first win of the season, but they came up short as the Pope John Paul Lady Jaguars

held on for a 47-44 win in the Pearl River Central Louisiana / Mississippi Challenge tournament.  A long three point shot by the

Lady Tide bounced off the backboard as the final buzzer sounded and Picayune (0-6) remained in search of their first win of the

season.

All photos by Carey Meitzler 

Autumn Jackson(24) launches a shot as Karly Moran (12) fights for position.

PJP led 23-16 at the end of the first half and stretched the lead to 42-27 at the end of the third quarter.  Picayune went on a 15-1

run to close the score to 43-42 with 2:19 left in the game, but the Lady Tide missed 5 of 6 free throws in the last 2 minutes of the

game.  Brittany Winterstein, who paced the Lady Tide with 22 points and 11 rebounds, was whistled for her fifth foul with 1:29 to

play in the game.  Picayune plays Varnado (LA) on Saturday at 4:00pm at Carriere.

Brittany Winterstein (31) shoots in first quarter action as Autumn Jackson (24) looks on from

behind Winterstein.

Winterstein (31) is fouled as she shoots a jumper late in the game.

She converted one of two free throws to cut the lead to 43-42.

Maroon Tide 75  Pope John Paul 60

The Picayune Maroon Tide used another explosive third quarter to break open a close game and took a 75-60 win

over the Pope John Paul Jaguars at the Pearl River Central Louisiana / Mississippi Challenge tournament.  The win

pushed the Maroon Tide's record to 6-1.

Chris Dees (15) scores the first basket of the game as Brandon Fortenberry (4) surveys the shot.

Chris Dees scored the first four points of the game to get the Tide off to a fast start, but PJP came back and held

a 19-18 lead after the first quarter.

Reshun Smith (5) hits a 3 pointer in the first quarter.  

ReShun Smith, who hit a 3 pointer to end the first quarter, nailed two more in the second quarter to tie the game

at 28-28 with 4:58 left. With Picayune trailing 33-29 with 1:55 left, Dees made one of two free throws, then

scored on an assist from Smith, and then drained a 3 pointer from the right corner to give Picayune a 35-34

half time lead.

Brandon Fortenberry (4) launches a 3 pointer as Wayne Mickel (3) watches.

PJP took a 43-41 lead with 4:10 left in the third quarter.  Brandon Fortenberry, who sat most of the

first half in foul trouble, hit a jumper from 12 feet to tie the game.  Wayne Mickel then stole the ball,

was fouled, and made one of his two free throws for 44-43 lead.  Mickel stole the ball again and

scored on a layup.  He got the ball back again, this time by forcing a five second violation with some

great defense. Mickel scored again when he rebounded a missed shot by Smith and put it back in the

basket with 2:20 left to give Picayune a 48-43 lead.  Dees scored with :01 left on a pass from Smith

for a 54-45 lead after three quarters.

Picayune would continue its run by scoring 11 points in a row capped off by Mickel's 3 pointer with

5:50 left in the game.  Picayune built a 68-48 advantage and coasted home for the win.

Dees paced the Maroon Tide with 23 points.  Brandon Fortenberry added 16 points with Mickel

and Smith scoring 11 points each.

David McClain (33) shoots a jumper in first quarter action against PJP.