By CURTIS ROCKWELL

Item Sports Editor

Picayune’s annual Holiday Basketball Classic got underway Monday, and most of the local teams fared fairly well.

Of the six Pearl River County teams that saw action, four won. Both teams from Pearl River Central got the day off to a successful start.

The Lady Devils snapped a 10 game losing streak, taking a 64-33 win over Pine, La., to begin the day.

Both Bria Pitts and Megan Calcote registered career highs in the win for the Lady Devils, as Pitts tallied 24 points and Calcote added 21. Sabrina Miller also chipped in 10 to the winning cause.

PRC jumped out to a 19-7 lead after the first quarter, as Pitts and Caroline Lumpkin combined for 15 points in the first frame.

Pine got 11 points from Shani Youngblood and 10 from Taylor Gerald.

The Blue Devils followed with a 91-25 win over Resurrection Catholic. PRC jumped out to a 24-1 lead after the first period and never looked back.

Dennan Seal, Andre Broadwater and Derrion Covington each tallied 12 points apiece to pace PRC, while Conner Ball added 9. Fred Cato led RC with 11.

Vancleave beat Poplarville 72-45 in a boy’s game, as Tyler Bray poured in a game high 28 to lead the Bulldogs. The Hornets led 10-7 early in the game, but a 13-0 Vancleave run to end the first frame turned the game in the Bulldogs favor and VHS never looked back.

David Gilmore had 10 and Freddy Dickey nine for the Hornets.

The Lady Hornets ran past George County 63-30 as Poplarville began the game with a 9-0 run and led comfortably throughout.

Bretta Hart and Daquari Raine scored 14 points apiece to pace Poplarville and Syn Henry added nine.

Mona Pritchett scored a game high 24 for the Lady Rebels.

The Picayune Lady Tide blew past St. Patrick 57-34, as Arrianna McGill scored a game high 13 for Picayune. Andrea Jackson and Keanna Magee added nine points apiece for the Lady Tide, which jumped out to a 9-3 lead after the first quarter and cruised to the win.

Johnda Boyd scored 12 for the Lady Irish.

The Maroon Tide dropped a close 60-58 decision to St. Patrick.

The Grieves brothers did most of the damage for the Fighting Irish, as Daniel scored a game high 25 and Jackson added 16. Daniel hit 18-of-19 free throws and tallied 21 of his 25 points in the second half.

Vince Gable paced Picayune with 17, and he hit back to back 3-pointers in the fourth period to put the Maroon Tide up by 1 before SPHS pulled out the win. Marcus Rawls and Scottie Merrill added 11 points apiece for Picayune.

In other action, George County beat West Harrison 46-42 in boy’s action, as Adrian Bradley scored 12 for the Rebels and Stacey Dennis had 13 for the Hurricanes.

Also, Franklin County beat Biloxi 47-44 in a girls game as CeCe Miller had 12 for FCHS and Camille Dunnings 15 for the Lady Indians.

Play continues today with eight more games beginning at 10 a.m.