POPLARVILLE, Miss. — A stellar defensive effort by the Pearl River men's basketball allowed the Wildcats to run away from Chattahoochee Valley Friday night inside Marvin R. White Coliseum, defeating the Pirates 66-43.
Pearl River held Chattahoochee Valley to 30.8 percent shooting from the field — its worst shooting night since Jan. 19, 2022, when the Pirates shot 29.8 percent against Coastal Alabama.
"It's amazing what you can do when you actually have 10 guys at practice," head coach Chris Oney said. "We tweaked a few things this week. It's still a work in progress. Tonight, we got a glimpse of how good we could be. We kept out of foul trouble but still pressured them."
Pearl River (2-0 overall) had to shake off a little rust to begin the night after falling behind 8-7 against Chattahoochee Valley (1-1) five minutes into the night. The Wildcats embarked on an eight-point run to follow. Kedrick Osby (Moss Point) got it started by pulling down an offensive rebound and scoring the ball all in the same motion. Joah Chappelle (Atlanta, Ga.; Dutchtown) scored the next points, taking the ball at the top of the arc and driving for a layup through a foul. He promptly hit his free throw to complete the and-one. Osby immediately created more offense for PRCC, stealing a ball away and pushing it ahead to Krystian Lewis (Monroe, La.; Wossman) for a layup. A Jayden Sampson (Ridgeland) free throw closed out the run, and PRCC led 14-7.
The Pirates crawled back into the game, cutting PRCC's lead down to two points, but another surge sent the Wildcats back ahead. Leading 21-14, Chappelle cleaned the glass for a rebound, glided down the court and weaved his way through the CVC defense for a layup. Zahir Gutierrez (Olive Branch) was money from beyond the arc on the next offensive possession as Lewis whipped a pass from the baseline back to Gutierrez for the shot.
Lewis brought the crowd to its feet with 3:39 remaining in the contest. The freshman poked the ball away from an unsuspecting Pirate and cruised down the court for a one-handed slam. The final basket of the first half came courtesy of Jamarion Smith (Magnolia; South Pike), who euro-stepped his way into the lane and laid a ball in for the basket. He then connected on his free-throw attempt to send PRCC to the break with a 36-20 advantage.
Pearl River put the game out of reach in the second half, using an early 11-point swing to get it started. With a 41-25 advantage, Dylan Sanders (Aurora, Colo.) nailed a corner 3-pointer, and then a Sampson basket was sandwiched between two perfect showings at the free-throw line by Chappelle and Lewis. Osby closed out the run with a breakaway slam, 52-25.
The Wildcats continued to pack on the points and eventually walked away with a 23-point, 66-43 victory over the Pirates.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Chappelle led Pearl River in scoring with 14 points. He also had a team-high seven rebounds. Lewis finished the night with 12 points, four assists, four rebounds and three steals. Sanders rounded out scorers in double figures with 11 points. He also brought in six rebounds. Gutierrez finished with nine big points, four assists and three steals.
NEXT UP
The Wildcats continue the All-State Invitational sponsored by the Pigott Agency on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Calhoun.
TICKETS
Basketball season tickets are available now for $86, granting access to all home regular-season games. Single-game tickets are $8 in advance and $10 on the day of the game. Tickets can be purchased at PRCCAthletics.com/Tickets.
TUNE IN
All home Pearl River basketball games are livestreamed for free at PRCCMedia.com/Gold. Fans who have Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app stores.
Games will also be available over the air in Pearl River County by tuning into 1320-AM and 106.9 FM. The radio broadcast is also available at WRJWRadio.com and by downloading the WRJW app.
For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on X (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).