River sweeps at Perk

PERKINSTON Pearl River Community College split with arch-rival Mississippi Gulf Coast in MACJC women and men South Division basketball action here Monday with the Wildcats pulling out an 81-80 overtime win over the 18th-ranked Bulldogs, while the Lady Wildcats fell 57-55. Grambling State (La.) transfer Yondarius Johnson nailed a buzzer-beating desperation three pointer from half court in regulation to send the men game into OT at 73-73. The Wildcats outscored the Bulldogs 8-7 from there on out to avenge Jan. 26''s 75-64 loss to Gulf Coast in Poplarville. PRCC men improved to 12-9 overall and 8-3 in division play, while MGCCC, which has already secured the South Division No. 1 spot, dropped to 19-4 and 10-2. Pearl River women, 52-51 winners over Gulf Coast earlier in Poplarville, dropped to 14-7 and 7-4; while the Lady Bulldogs, who are already eliminated from state tournament contention, are now 12-10 and 6-6. Both River squads are headed to next week (Monday through Thursday) MACJC State Tournament to be played in Itawamba CC spectacular Davis Event Center in Fulton. The Wildcats have iced the South second seed behind Mississippi Gulf Coast, while the Lady Wildcats are currently in a three-way tie for second with East Central and Jones County behind the South champ Copiah-Lincoln Lady Wolves. Pearl River wraps its regular season Thursday when it hosts East Central at 5 p.m. (women) and 7 p.m. (men). Thursday women winner will clinch the No. 2 South seed. In the Wildcat-Bulldog battle, Gulf Coast led 38-36 at the intermission, but PRCC outscored its host 37-35 in the second half to knot things at 73 and send things into OT. In overtime, Zane Knowles, a Nassau, Bahamas native who transferred to The River from Grambling along with Johnson, slammed in four of the Wildcats eight points in the period. Josh Carpenter of Oak Grove High paced PRCC with a career-high 20 points (four rebounds), while Daron Bell of Bay High added 19 and hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds and dished off four assists. Johnson (five rebounds), who hails from Plain Dealing, La., and Knowles (10 rebounds) finished the night with 10 points each; while Marcus Rawls of Picayune High scored seven, Jeremy Moore of Wayne County High six, Quentin Watkins out of Lanier High in Jackson four (four rebounds), Raheem England of Decatur (Ala.) High three, and Jyrus Carriere out of St. Martin High in Biloxi two. Bryan Williams led Gulf Coast with 16 points (four rebounds), while Darius Forrest scored 15 (four rebounds), Guy Payne 14 (five rebounds), Jeffrey Simmons nine, Angel Matias seven (five rebounds), Jeremiah Dunnings and Lakendrick Evans, six each; Justin Childs four (nine rebounds), and Ice Asortse three. Pearl River was dismal at the foul line, hitting 40.6 percent (13 of 32) to Gulf Coast 51.4 percent (18 of 35), while the Wildcats were 31 of 63 (49.2 percent) from the field to the Bulldogs 29-of-60 (48.3 percent) effort. From three-point range, PRCC was an impressive six of 13 (46.2 percent), while MGCCC was four of 12 (33.3 percent). The River had the advantage on the boards with 45 rebounds (17 offensive, 28 defensive) to Gulf Coast 38 (14 offensive, 24 defensive), while PRCC committed 16 turnovers to the MGCCC 19. In the women game, the Lady Wildcats led 27-19 at the break, but the Lady Bulldogs bounced back with a 38-28 advantage in the second half to take the two-point victory. Toy Johnson of Pascagoula High led PRCC with 15 points (five steals, three assists), while Shanta Echols of Sumrall High (six rebounds, four steals) and Samantha Gunn, a Canton native who prepped at Velma Jackson High, added eight each. Quentessa Bullock of East Marion High scored seven (four rebounds), Stephanie Fratesi out of Washington High in Leland and Shana Ward, an East Central CC transfer from Carthage, four each; Branita Malone out of Choctaw High in Ft. Walton Beach, Fla., three (four rebounds), and Chaquita McGee of Yazoo City High, Daiquari Raine of Poplarville High (six rebounds), and Lolecia Richardson out of Provine High in Jackson, two a piece. Delainna Lyons led MGCCC with 12 points (four rebounds), while Cara Beverlin scored nine, Yasmine Nelson (seven rebounds) and Presley Owens (five rebounds), eight each; Markia Nicks seven (five rebounds), Tatyana Haywood six, Ricillle Davis four, and Laprecious Thompson three. Pearl River hit 75 percent (15 of 20) from the free throw line to Gulf Coast 58.8 percent (10 of 17), while the Lady Wildcats were 20 of 57 (35.1 percent) from the field to the Lady Bulldogs 22-of-47 (46.8 percent) effort. From three-point range, PRCC zilched on nine attempts, while MGCCC was three of seven (42.9 percent). Both teams finished the night with 34 rebounds with Pearl River grabbing 14 offensive and 20 defensive boards, while Gulf Coast hauled in nine offensive and 25 defensive. Pearl River committed 16 turnovers to the Gulf Coast 23.

Each community college president is asked to bring two (2) wrapped door prizes, minimum value of $50 each. We will have a station set up at the conference for you to drop off the door prizes.

Each community college is asked to provide name tags for their Board members, administration, and staff attending the conference.