January 16, 2009

Picayune drops both games to Long Beach

by Carey Meitzler

Long Beach-- Picayune's girls and boys had hopes of staying in the thick of their respective Region races, but both were dealt

a setback as they lost at Long Beach.  The Lady Tide dropped an 80-58 decision to the Bearkittens and the Maroon Tide ran out

of gas late in falling to the Bearcats 66-48.

Long Beach 66  Maroon Tide 48

The Maroon Tide led 13-10 after the first quarter as Vince Gable's three pointer with :35 left gave them the lead. 

Long Beach opened the second quarter with an 8-0 run before Picayune's Courtney Nixon hit a jumper and teammate Gable

added his second three ball to make it 22-18 with 2:50 left.  Long Beach got a three pointer from Dimitri Smith to make 25-18

with 2:30 left, but Lloyd Hall and Gable scored to cut it to 25-22 with just over a minute left.  Josh Brown hit two free throws

for Long Beach to make it 27-22 at the half.

All photos by Carey Meitzler

Coach Taylor (standing left) and the Maroon Tide fans watch late third quarter action at Long Beach on Friday.

Long Beach built a 34-27 lead on Jemille Fluker's jumper with 5:40 left in the third.  Gable hit a jumper and then added another three pointer

to make it 34-32 with 4:54 left.  Jamal Hall scored on a driving lay up to tie the game at 34-34.  After a Long Beach basket by Desmond

Coleman, Derionne Stewart scored on an assist from Gable to tie it at 36-36 with 3:15 left.  Long Beach went on a 13-3 run to close the

quarter and had a 49-39 lead entering the fourth quarter. 

Picayune opened the fourth with a 7-1 run cutting the Long Beach advantage to 50-46 on a Gable three pointer with 6:59 left.  However, the

Bearcats went on a 11-0 run over the next 4 minutes to put the game away.

Gable led Picayune (9-9, 5-3) with 22 points and Lloyd Hall added 12.  Derionne Stewart had 9 points and pulled down 7 rebounds

for the Maroon Tide.

Long Beach got 27 points from Fluker, Coleman and Manfred Eady added 11 points each and Smith finished with 10 points.

Vince Gable (4) hits a three pointer in the fourth quarter over Long Beach's Dimitri Smith (4).

Long Beach 66  Maroon Tide 48

Monique Brown poured in 39 points for the Lady Tide in their 66-48 loss to Long Beach. The Lady Tide fell behind 14-10 after the first

quarter and trailed 36-24 at the half.

Long Beach (14-9, 3-3) had three players in double figures. Delainna Lyons had 16 points, Chrissy Slade had 15, and Kelli Williams had 14.

Picayune (5-12, 3-3) will play at Bay High on Tuesday.

Karly Moran (12) just before making a pass to the corner for the Lady Tide against Long Beach.