January 9, 2009

Picayune sweeps Pearl River Central

By Carey Meitzler

Picayune--Picayune's Lady Tide stayed unbeaten at home with a 45-37 win over Pearl River Central at Kelly Wise Memorial

Gymnasium.  The win pushed their overall record to 5-11 and their Region 8-4A tally to 3-2.

The Blue Devils led 6-4 with just under 3 minutes left in the first quarter, but Keona Magee's three pointer put the Lady Tide up

9-6.  Monique Brown scored with :01 left to end the first quarter and give Picayune a 13-10 lead.  The Lady Tide led 20-13 at

the half.

Picayune built a nine point lead in the third quarter on two occasions before PRC's Kayla Drummond scored at the buzzer to cut

it to 30-25.

All photos by Carey Meitzler

Andrea Jackson (center) looks for help as PRC's Amberly Banks (22) and Natashia Holloway (11) defend.

Picayune led 41-32 with 1:19 left in the game, the Lady Blue Devils close the gap to 41-37 on Merrisa Diaz put back of an

offensive rebound and a Drummond three ball.  The Lady Tide got two free throws from Brown with :14 left and two more from

Melody McGill with :04 left to clinch the win.

Monique Brown (30) drives past PRC's Amberly Banks (22).

Brown lead Picayune with 11 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Hillary Dickens had 8 points, 15 rebounds, and 2 blocked

shots.  Janaea Wills had 8 points, Melody McGill had 5 points, Karly Moran 5 points, Magee 3 points, Andrea Jackson 3 points,

Arianna McGill 2 points.

Diaz had 10 and Drummond added 8 points for the Lady Blue Devils (4-12, 0-5).

Boys : Maroon Tide 48  PRC 45

The Maroon Tide continued find a way to win close games as they overcame a furious PRC Blue Devil rally to capture a 48-45 win

at Kelly Wise Memorial Gymnasium.  Picayune is now 5-1 in Region 8-4A and 9-7 overall under first year Head Coach Tom Taylor.

Picayune jumped to a 6-1 lead on two layups by Reggie Bailey and a put back from Lloyd Hall with 2:23 left in the first quarter.

PRC got its first field goal from Jordan Faironcontue with 2:03 to make it 6-5, but Bailey scored again with :22 left to make it 8-5

after one quarter.

Chris Nixon (1) scores off a rebound for Picayune and Vince Gable (4) hits a jump shot against PRC.

Chris Nixon came off the bench to score 6 points and grab 4 rebounds to push the Maroon Tide to a 23-18 halftime lead.

PRC took the lead as the third quarter unfolded on consecutive three pointers from Faironcontue and John Henry, the later coming

with 6:15 left.  Vincent Gable, who had 31 points on Tuesday at Poplarville, scored to put Picayune back on top with 5:27 left.

The Blue Devils' Josh Nixon hit a trey and added a lay up for a 29-25 lead.  Lloyd Hall hit a three ball to cut it to 29-28 and PRC

answered with Tyler Miller's put back lay up with 1:50 left.  Bailey scored on an assist from Courtney Nixon with 1:07 left to make

the score 31-30 at the end of the quarter.

Reggie Bailey (21) scores for the Maroon Tide in the first quarter.

Much like PRC opened the third quarter, the Maroon Tide came out smoking hot as Gable hit consecutive three pointers and Nixon

added another for Picayune for a 39-31 lead with 6:21 left.  Josh Nixon responded with a three pointer with 5:29 left.  With 5:01 left,

Jonathan Smith scored on an assist from Hall and then with 3:40 left, Hall scored on an assist from Smith to give the Maroon Tide

a 43-34 left.  Gable scored on a jumper for a 45-34 lead with 2:20 left.

Chris Nixon (1) and Jonathan Smith (25) battle for a rebound against PRC.

The Blue Devils then got another three ball from Josh Nixon and Miller hit a three pointer to make it 45-40 with 1:30 to go.

PRC began to foul and send the Maroon Tide to the free throw line and Picayune missed 4 of 5 attempts.  Hall hit the one free throw

with :28 left to make it 46-40.   Nixon scored for PRC with :21 left to make it 46-42.  After PRC called their last time out, Picayune

missed two free throws with :19 left.  With :06 left, Marvin Richmond hit two free throws for a 48-42 lead.  Josh Nixon hit another

three pointer with :01 left to make the final 48-45.

Picayune got balanced scoring with Gable leading the way with 12 points, Hall added 11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals.

Reggie Bailey finished with 10 points and Chris Nixon came off the bench to score 6 points and grab 9 rebounds.

Nixon lead the Blue Devils (6-10, 2-3) with 23 points.