Nationally-ranked Wildcats tip-off defense of division crown Monday against Wolves

POPLARVILLE The seventh-ranked Pearl River Wildcats put their perfect 8-0 record on the line here Monday when Copiah-Lincoln visits for an MACJC South Division match-up in Shivers Gymnasium. It will mark the division opener for PRCC men and women squads, while the Wesson-based Wolves and Lady Wolves opened league play Thursday at home with a pair of victories (57-54 men, 88-70 women) over Southwest Mississippi. I just hope we dont start as bad as we did last year, said 20th-year Wildcat boss Richard Mathis who guided the Wildcats to an MACJC state title a year ago. We lost our first two (to Hinds and Jones County) and both were before the Christmas holidays. We caught a big break this year with only one division game before the holidays, particularly with out injury situation. Freshman forward Nick Magee of East Marion High has been sidelined with an ankle injury, while sophomores Phillip Crawford, a center out of Murphy High in Mobile, and point guard Pedro Maciel, a transfer from Centenary University (La.) who prepped at St. Stanislaus in Bay St. Louis, have dealt with knee problems. Our starting guys have played a lot of minutes, Mathis added. We were off this past Thursday, but after playing Sunday (a 72-62 win over Loyola junior varsity) and Tuesday (a 79-72 win over Baton Rouge), we welcomed that break. We were pretty beat up. Fourteenth-year Co-Lin head coach Dennis Sims brings 4-4 overall and 1-0 division mark into Monday battle. Dennis always does a good job, Mathis said. He knows how to coach them and his teams know how to play. They dont take bad shots and seem to always keep it close regardless of who theyre playing. I guarantee you theyll give us all we can handle come Monday. Third-year Lady Wildcat coach Toby Bush team will definitely have its hands full against the 10th-ranked Lady Wolves. PRCC 2-3 women will lock horns with a 7-1 Co-Lin team whose sole loss of the year came on the road from a solid Northwest Mississippi squad 68-66 in overtime. The Lady Wildcats picked up their second win of the season Monday at home with a 75-67 win over Baton Rouge CC, less than a month after the Lady Bears pounded their likes 70-46 Nov. 4 in Baton Rouge. Tip off times for the Pearl River versus Copiah-Lincoln twin bill are 5 p.m. (women) and 7 p.m. (men). PRCC closes out the pre-Christmas holiday portion of its schedule when Delgado (La.) visits Thursday, Dec. 9, for women and men contests at the same game times.