River splits with Hinds

UTICA – Pearl River Community College splits with Hinds in women's and men's MACJC South Division basketball action here Thursday with the Lady Wildcats pulling off a 66-53 victory, while the Wildcats fell 62-59. PRCC's women improved to 8-4 overall and 2-1 in division play, while its men fell to 6-7 and 2-1. The Hinds women dropped to 2-11 and 0-4, while its men improved to 4-9 and 3-1. In the women's game, Pearl River led 29-17 at the intermission before outscoring Hinds 37-36 in the second half to take the 13-point victory. Shanta' Echols of Sumrall High led PRCC with 13 points (four rebounds), while Branita Malone out of Choctaw High in Ft. Walton Beach, Fla., added 12 (seven rebounds); Toy Johnson of Pascagoula High 10 (seven rebounds, four assists), Shana Ward, an East Central CC transfer from Carthage, seven; Daiquari Raine of Poplarville High six (six rebounds), Quentessa Bullock of East Marion High four, Samantha Gunn, a Canton native who prepped at Velma Jackson High, and Chaquita McGee of Yazoo City High, three each; and Kyiana Allen, a Southern Shreveport CC transfer from Ruston, La., Alayna Bridges of Oak Grove High, Jeronda Beason of Poplarville High, and Lolecia Richardson out of Provine High in Jackson (five rebounds), two a piece. Kenya Wright paced Hinds with a game-high 18 points (three steals), while Raven Hubbard added 13 (eight rebounds), Shelley Griffith (six rebounds) and Carmen Smith (five rebounds), five each; Michelle Stewart four (nine rebounds, three steals), Kayla Greer, Tyesha Kidd, and Quaneisha Haynes, two a piece; and Shavadrea Farris and Quin'meka Shaw, one each. Pearl River hit 68.3 percent (28 of 41) from the free throw line to Hinds' 50 percent (13 of 26), while both teams hit 33.3 percent (both 19 of 57). From three-point range, PRCC was zero of two, while HCC was two of 19 (10.5 percent). Hinds led on the boards with 48 rebounds (16 offensive, 32 defensive) to Pearl River's 42 (14 offensive, 28 defensive), while the Lady Bulldogs committed 29 turnovers to the Lady Wildcats' 21. In the men's game, Hinds led 30-19 at the intermission, while Pearl River outscored its host 40-32 in the second half only to come up four points shy of victory. Daron Bell of Bay High led the Wildcats with 17 points and 12 rebounds – both team-high totals – while Yondarius Johnson of Plain Dealing, La., and Zane Knowles of Nassau, Bahamas (10 rebounds), added 12 and 10 points, respectively. Both are Grambling State (La.) transfers. Quentin Watkins out of Lanier High in Jackson scored eight (five rebounds, two treys, three assists), Josh Carpenter of Oak Grove High and Daterris Rogers of Wayne County High, four each; Raheem England of Decatur (Ala.) High two, and Mike Henry of Wayne County High and Marcus Rawls of Picayune High, one each. Carlo McDonald paced the Bulldogs with a game-high 18 points (three treys), while Dominque Brown added 16 (four assists), Trevis Thomas 12 (five rebounds), Josh Gaskin nine (five rebounds), Tremaine Cunningham five, and Cornelius Harris two. Pearl River hit 47.6 percent (10 of 21) from the free throw line to Hinds' 76 percent (19 of 25), while the Wildcats were 23 of 68 (33.3 percent) from the field to the Bulldogs' 19-of-46 (41.3 percent) effort. From three-point range, PRCC was three of 17 (17.6 percent), while HCC was five of 14 (35.7 percent). Pearl River dominated on the boards with 50 rebounds (29 offensive, 21 defensive) to Hinds' 27 (seven offensive, 20 defensive), while the Wildcats committed 18 turnovers to the Bulldogs' 15. Pearl River eyes a division rematch with Hinds Monday, Feb. 13, in Shivers Gymnasium in Poplarville. The River returns to action when it hosts back-to-back South Division arch-rivals in Shivers Gymnasium against Jones County Monday and Mississippi Gulf Coast Thursday, Jan. 26. Both dates see game times 5 p.m. (women) and 7 p.m. (men).