River splits with East Central

DECATUR Pearl River Community College split with East Central in women and men MACJC South Division basketball action here Monday with the Lady Wildcats falling 75-64, while the Wildcat squad snagged a 70-56 come-from-behind victory. PRCC women dropped to 10-5 overall and 4-2 in division play, while its men improved to 8-8 and 4-2. ECCC women, on the other hand, are now 3-12 and 3-3, while its men are 1-14 and 1-5. In the women contest, the host Lady Warriors led 42-34 at the break before outscoring the Lady Wildcats 33-30 in the second half to take the 11-point victory. Shanta Echols of Sumrall High paced The River with 13 points (seven rebounds), while Toy Johnson of Pascagoula High added 12 (four rebounds, five assists), Samantha Gunn, a Canton native who prepped at Velma Jackson High (five assists), and Daiquari Raine of Poplarville High (four rebounds), nine each; Lolecia Richardson out of Provine High in Jackson eight, Branita Malone out of Choctaw High (Fla.) in Ft. Walton Beach, Fla., six; Shana Ward, an East Central CC transfer from Carthage, three; and Kyiana Allen, a Southern Shreveport CC transfer from Ruston, La., and Chaquita McGee of Yazoo City High, two each. Xzandra Dowd (10 rebounds) and Jakela Johnson (four rebounds) led ECCC with 12 points each, while JaMonica Orton scored 11 (nine rebounds), Kurlysha Bell nine, Inessa Adams (four rebounds) and Kelcia Bufkin, eight each; Jaianah Matthew seven, Renesha Evans five, and Ashlee Hardee three. Pearl River hit 63.6 percent (13 of 22) from the free throw line to East Central 70 percent (14 of 20), while the Lady Wildcats were 39.3 percent (24 of 61) from the field to the Lady Warriors 45.8 percent (22 of 66) effort. Both teams hit 33.3 percent (PRCC three of nine, ECCC seven of 21) from three-point range. East Central led on the boards with 38 rebounds (14 offensive, 24 defensive) to Pearl River 36 (16 offensive, 20 defensive), while both teams committed 19 turnovers each. In the men game, Pearl River trailed 32-28 at the intermission, but lamblasted the host Warriors 42-24 in the second half to take the lopsided come-from-behind victory. Yondarius Johnson, a Grambling State (La.) transfer from Plain Dealing, La., led PRCC with 17 points (five rebounds); while Quentin Watkins out of Lanier High in Jackson scored 16 (four rebounds, five assists), Zane Knowles, another Grambling State transfer from Nassau, Bahamas, 15 (10 rebounds); Mike Henry of Wayne County High seven, Daron Bell of Bay High (six rebounds, three assists) and Raheem England of Decatur (Ala.) High, four each; Josh Carpenter of Oak Grove High three, and Jyrus Carriere of St. Martin High in Biloxi and Derionne Stewart of Picayune High two each. Pearl River hit 74.3 percent (26 of 35) from the free throw line to East Central 78.6 percent (11 of 14), while the Wildcats were 52.5 percent (21 of 40) from the field to the Warriors 32.2 percent (19 of 59) effort. From three-point range, ECCC was seven of 25 (28.8 percent) to PRCC two-of-10 (20 percent) showing. The River boasted a solid advantage on the boards with 38 rebounds (six offensive, 32 defensive) to East Central 29 (nine offensive, 20 defensive), while the Cats committed 17 turnovers to the Warrior 17. PRCC eyes MACJC South Division rematches with ECCC Thursday, Feb. 23, in Poplarville in the 2011-2012 regular-season finales. The Lady Wildcats host Alabama Southern (Ala.) in a women only playing date this Thursday (6 p.m. tip-off) in Shivers Gymnasium in Poplarville before Copiah-Lincoln visits Monday, Feb. 6, for 5 p.m. (women) and 7 p.m. (men) MACJC South Division games. Pearl River travels to Southwest Mississippi in Summit Thursday, Feb. 9, for division battles at the same game times.