POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River men's basketball team returned to form Monday night in the Region 23 Quarterfinals against East Central, crushing the Warriors 84-62. PRCC now advances to the Region 23 Semifinal on Wednesday against Itawamba. The Wildcats and Indians will play at 5:30 p.m. in Ellisville.
"It's not about coaching at this time of the year. It's all about the players," head coach Chris Oney said. "They know what to do to go win games. I'm proud of these guys. They played a really good game tonight, so I think we will have some confidence moving into Wednesday."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The early going made it look as if Pearl River (23-6 overall) and East Central (17-13) were going to be in a battle, as PRCC led by just two 12-10 with 12:28 remaining in the opening half.
The Wildcats embarked on an impressive run to turn the tide on the Warriors. The run saw PRCC outscore ECCC 16-2 to take a commanding 28-12 lead. PRCC rattled off the first seven points with four points from Joah Chappelle (Atlanta, Ga.; Dutchtown) and a 3-pointer off the hands of Kedrick Osby (Moss Point). Osby hit another 3-pointer during the run, and Mason Lewis (Stockbridge, Ga.; Woodland) fought his way to the rim for a big basket.
Pearl River held steady throughout the remainder of the quarter. Krystian Lewis (Monroe, La.; Wossman) got a reverse layup to fall and hit a 3-pointer before Osby cashed in on another 3-pointer. The Wildcats eventually hit the midway point with a 38-23 lead.
Pearl River continued to apply the pressure in the second half, opening up a 20-point, 50-30, with 16 minutes remaining in the contest. The Wildcats reached the scoreline with back-to-back plays from Jayden Sampson (Cleveland; Cleveland Central). The freshman first snatched an offensive rebound and scored, then followed the play by earning a steal and taking it the length of the floor for a huge two-handed slam.
It got easy for the Wildcats as the game pushed along, matching every East Central basket with one of their own. Osby increased PRCC's lead to 80-59 late after knocking down an off-balance floater and a 3-pointer, 80-59.
Pearl River received a basket from Cooper Kennedy (Laurel; West Jones) just before the contest ended to take down the Warriors 84-62.
BY THE NUMBERS
The points flowed all game long for Osby, who finished with a game-high 24 points. He was 9-for-16 from the field, including an impressive 6-for-7 from beyond the arc. He also hauled in six rebounds.
Lewis tallied 21 points, eight assists, five rebounds and two steals to finish second on the team. Sampson racked up 12 points and six rebounds.
Dylan Sanders (Aurora, Colo.) finished the night with a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double.
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