Maroon Tide Trounces Hattiesburg to Win Division 5-5A Title
Hancock Defeats Lady Tide for Girls Title
by Carey Meitzler
Boys: Picayune 75 Hattiesburg 49
Picayune knew they had to take advantage of the absence of Hattiesburg's
Jamarcus Jackson and get the ball down in the paint to Donairies Hair. They
did that and much more on their way to a convincing 75-49 victory over the
Tigers. But the game didn't start out as if the Maroon Tide would have their
way at Kelly Wise Memorial Gymnasium as a young Tiger team came out
ready to play in the opening quarter.
Hattiesburg jumped out to a15-13 lead after the first quarter before Picayune
would rally to take control in the second quarter. Leading 20-18, the Maroon
Tide went on a 8-0 run lead by Jarvis Dantzler. Dantzler scored on an offensive
tip-in and followed on the next Tide possession with a 3 pointer. After a Randy
Perkins free throw, Dantzler scored a layup on an assist from Hair to push the
Tide's margin to 28-18. Picayune ended the half on a Hair put back at the buzzer
to lead 34-23 at the break.
The Maroon Tide put it away in the third quarter behind the 3 point shooting of
Chazz Hawkins (2 treys) and Dantzler (1 trey). Dantzler also fed Hair at the
buzzer with a monster slam dunk to put Picayune up 53-34 as the quarter ended.
Picayune outscored the Tigers 22-15 in the final quarter in route to their 17th
straight win.
Hair paced the Tide with 23 points, including 8 points from offensive rebounds
& put backs and he also pulled down 6 rebounds. Dantzler had a complete
game of 22 points, including 4 three balls and dished out 6 assists. Hawkins
finished with 9 points and 4 assists. Eric Vinnaney had 7 points and 7 assists
for Picayune (28-3).
Hattiesburg (10-17) was paced by a solid performance by Aaron Williams .
Williams, much smaller than the Picayune front line, finished with 13 points
and 6 rebounds..
Adrian Williams added 11 points and Chris Dees finished with 10 points.
Picayune (28-3) wil host Warren Central at Kelly Wise on Tuesday at 7:00pm.
Warren Central was defeated by Vicksburg 78-72.
Vicksburg will host Hattiesburg on Tuesday. The winners of those games will
advance to the South State Tournament which will more than likely be in Biloxi,
if Biloxi wins their game on Tuesday.
Girls: Hancock 53 Picayune 41
Hancock, the defending Class 5A State Champions, showed their metal as
they held off PIcayune (19-9) 53-41 to take the Division 5-5A title.
The victory was the third of the season for the Lady Hawks over the Lady Tide.
Hancock jumped out to a 9-2 advantage, but Picayune fought back as
Dedrea Magee scored 8 points in the quarter. Picayune lead once at 12-11
with 1:09 left on a basket by Magee, but the Lady Hawks countered with a
Christine Singleton bucket to lead 13-12 after one quarter.
Ashley Boehnel, the USM signee, scored 8 of her 14 points in the second quarter
and Singleton dropped in 6 points as the Lady Hawks took a commanding
28-19 lead at the break. Picayune would cut the lead to 38-31 on a 3 pointer
from the left corner by Shanquell Whitehead with :01 remaining, but that's as
close as the Lady Tide would get. Hancock, behind the play of Erica Moran,
Singleton, and Boehnel, held serve in the fourth quarter outscoring Picayune
15-10 to claim the championship.
Erica Moran led Hancock with 15 points and 6 rebounds. Singleton finished
with 14 points and Boehnel added 13 points and handed out 5 assists.
Dedrea Magee and Toi Jones finished with 12 points each for Picayune. Ashley
Bell had 6 points and 6 rebounds.
Hancock, now 23-8, will host Natchez at the Kiln on Monday, while
Picayune (19-9) will travel to Warren Central (Vicksburg). Both games
are set for 7:00pm.
The winners of those games will advance to the South State tournament,
tentatively scheduled for Harrison Central in Lyman, if Harrison Central
wins their game on Monday.