January 23, 2009
Picayune splits games with Poplarville
by Carey Meitzler
Picayune--Those in attendance at Kelly Wise Memorial Gymnasium were treated to two exciting games with Poplarville taking
the girls game 46-44 and Picayune winning the boys game 69-65 in Region 8-4A action.
All photos by Carey Meitzler
Maroon Tide fans watched their teams split their games with Poplarville.
Maroon Tide 69 Poplarville 65
Vince Gable poured in 21 second half points to enable Picayune to rally from a halftime deficit and defeat the Hornets 69-65.
The Maroon Tide led 16-15 after one quarter, but Poplarville tied the game 26-26 with 2:49 left on Ira White's three point
play. Next, the Hornets went on a 7-0 run on four Lavelle Henry free throws and a three point play by Dennis Bowden to build
a 33-26 lead. Picayune's Courtney Nixon converted a three point play with a lay up and a free throw to cut the lead to 33-29
at the half.
Derionne Stewart (15) scores for Picayune against Poplarville at Kelly Wise Memorial Gymnasium.
Vince Gable (4) releases a three pointer that gave the Maroon Tide a 38-37 lead.
The Maroon Tide stormed back and took the lead 38-37 on Gable's three pointer with 6:12 to play in the third. J.T. Biggs
followed with a put back score to make it 40-37. Lavelle Henry tied it with a three pointer at 40-40. Gable and Derionne
Stewart each scored to give the Maroon Tide a 44-40 lead with 3:30 left. Bryson Barnett hit a three pointer to bring the
Hornets to within on point at 44-43 with 3:09 left. After each team missed shots, Gable snatched a defensive rebound and
dribbled coast to coast getting the lay up to make it 46-43 with 1:50 left. After a free throw by Henry, Gable hit one of two free
throws with :44 left and then hit a three pointer with :21 left to give Picayune a 50-44 lead.
J.T. Biggs (5) scores following up a missed Maroon Tide shot.
White scored for the Hornets just seconds into the fourth quarter, but Stewart scored off an offensive rebound and Hall hit
a long range three ball to give the Maroon Tide a 55-46 lead with 6:49 left in the game. Picayune built a ten point lead on
Hall's short jumper and his lay up with 5:31 left making the score 59-49. Down the stretch, Gable and Hall both converted
both ends of free throw opportunities to secure the win for the Maroon Tide.
Gable finished with 25 points and Hall added 21 for Picayune (10-10, 6-4). Henry tallied 19 points while Bowden had
12 points and Jalen Raine added 11 points for the Hornets.
Lloyd Hall (20) guards Lavelle Henry while Head Coach Tom Taylor shouts instructions to his team.
Poplarville 46 Lady Tide 44
Picayune built a 19-10 lead over the Region 8-4A leading Hornets, but Poplarville scorched the nets for twenty three third
quarter points and eventually held on for a 46-44 win.
Picayune's Janaea Wills scored 4 points and dished out two assists in helping the Lady Tide to a 9-6 first quarter lead. In
the second quarter, Picayune got scoring from five different players to build a 19-10 advantage.
Picayune led 20-10 after Karly Moran's free throw early in the third quarter. The Lady Hornets scored the next five points
to make it 20-15 with 7:10 left. Moran hit two free throws and a short jumper with 6:00 left to make it 24-15. Poplarville
went on a 7-0 run cutting the Picayune lead to 24-23 with 4:30 left on Daquiri Raine's short jumper. The Lady Hornets
took their first lead on Policia Travis' lay up with :40 left.
Andrea Jackson (44) shoots a three pointer against Poplarville's Jeronda Beason.
Leading 33-30 to start the fourth quarter, Poplarville went on a 6-0 run to build a 39-30 lead with 6:47 left in the game.
Picayune rallied on Melody McGill's put back, two free throws from Wills, a free throw by McGill, and Andrea Jackson's
jumper to cut it to 39-37 with 3:29 left. Moran tied the game with two free throws with 3:09 left. Poplarville got a jumper
from Demi Beason and a lay up from Raine with 2:29 left. Monique Brown made one of two free throws and Jackson
hit another jump shot to cut the Poplarville lead to 43-42 with 1:30 left. With :59 left, Beason converted one of two free
throws for a 44-42 lead for Poplarville. Brown tied the game at 44-44 on a spinning move in the lane with :39 left.
Beason scored on a short jumper with :09 left. Picayune called time out, but was unable to get a shot off as time expired.
Wills led the Lady Tide (5-14, 3-5) with 10 points, Moran had 9, Jackson 8, and Brown 7 points.
Poplarville (15-4, 6-1) got 16 points from Policia Travis while Raine and Beason each tallied 10 points.