Friday 01/23/04:

Boys: Hattiesburg 63 Picayune 61  (Overtime)

The Tide lost a very physical game in overtime to the very athletic Hattiesburg Tigers, but even with the loss Picayune still earns the number one

seed for the Division 5-5A tournament in Oak Grove beginning on February 15th.  The Tide, by virtue of defeating Hattiesburg 59-49 earlier in

the season, only needed to stay within 9 points of the Tigers to claim the top seed.  In the end, the loss dropped the Tide's overall record to 17-8,

5-1 in Division 5-5A, but still finish as Division regular season champs.

The Tide led 15-11 after one quarter and 29-28 at the half.  The Tigers pressured the Tide backcourt of Manny Jackson, Radale Brumfield, and

Mark Dragon the entire game and by the game's end, fatigue became a factor for the Tide.  Coupled with the officials decision to let the game get

very physical, the Tide did all they could do to hang close with the # 6 ranked Tigers.  On the game, the Tide committed 21 turnovers with 14 of

them coming after halftime.  

With seconds to play in regulation, Cordell Myles stole a Tiger inbound pass and raced down the court and appeared to be fouled, but no infraction

was whistled and the see-saw battle ended 51-51 at the end of regulation.  Many of the Tide faithful on hand were worried that the Tigers might be

able to take advantage of the "tired" Tide and possibly pull away and win by 10 and coupled with a win against Oak Grove next week in their final

Division game, snatch away the Division top seed .  However, The Tide did not wilt and in fact had chances to win, but missed free throws and some questionable calls game the the Tigers the boost they needed.  Hattiesburg led 63-61 with 6 seconds to play, but Alton Robinson missed two free

throws giving the Tide one last chance.  Mark Dragon's 3 point attempt bounced away at the buzzer and the Tide had lost the battle, but won the war

(top seed).

Donairies Hair led the Tide with 20 points and 11 rebounds before fouling in overtime.  Late in the game, Hair blocked a shot, garnered the rebound

and went coast to coast for a slam dunk that ignited the Tide crowd.  Radale Brumfield and Manny Jackson each had 8 points, all in the second half. 

Cordell Myles had 7 points.  Mark Dragon had 6 points and 8 rebounds for the Tide.  Tony Foster finished with 5 points and 4 rebounds.

Hattiesburg was led by Alton Robinson with 18 points, 16 of those coming after halftime.  Jay Lee finished with 16 points and Anthony Jackson added

12 points for the Tigers.

Coach Shaw said afterward, "At the end of regulation, Coach Pete (Dennis Peterson) and I thought  'Oh no, did we just mess up' ?  I mean, they could

have easily blown us out in OT and we could have lost the top seed.  We thought about a lot of things there at the end that would have allowed them (Hattiesburg) to win it, but we didn't play it that way.  I am just so proud of the effort I kids gave tonight and all year.  To play them this kind of game up

here says a lot about our kids."

Scoring by quarters 

Girls: Hattiesburg 55  Picayune 49  

The Lady Tide trailed 30-17 at the half, but rallied in the second half only to fall short.  Toi Jones led the Lady Tide with 17 points and Dedrea Magee

added 16 points.  The Lady Tide played without the services of Ashley Bell who is sidelined with an injury.  The Lady Tide record stands at 3-3 in

Division 5-5A, 16-7 overall.