Poplarville renewed an old Class 3A rivalry Monday night, and in the process stopped a losing streak.

The Hornets faced off with Greene County in the first round of the Vancleave Christmas Tournament, and Poplarville snapped a three game losing streak with a 48-45 win over the Wildcats.

Poplarville evened its mark at 4-4 on the season with the win, and advances to play in tonight’s championship game against the host team Vancleave, which beat Mercy Cross 71-45 in the other boys’ contest.

“Hopefully this will get us turned around,” Poplarville veteran head coach John Miller said, after his team pulled out its first win in two weeks. “Our kids showed a lot of heart and character and hung in there to pull it out.”

The Hornets waited until late in the game to enforce some full court defensive pressure that helped pull out the win after Greene County led for most of the contest.

“That kind of turned the tide for us, when we started pressing them back,” Miller added. “They pressed the entire game, and it kind of kept us off balance. But we waited until the last quarter to press because we just don’t have enough depth to do it all game long. Luckily it paid off.”

Poplarville’s Bryant Travis nailed a pair of free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

The Hornets were paced by Brandon Peters, who scored a game high 19 points. Ike Bowden added 10 points to the winning cause.

Poplarville faces Vancleave tonight in a contest that will be the last for the Hornets until they return after the holiday break to meet Picayune on Jan. 9.

“Hopefully we can go into the lay off with a good game,” Miller added.

Vancleave stands 4-8 entering tonight’s game after the win over the Crusaders. Blake McMillan paced the Bulldog win with 10 points.

Poplarville’s girls weren’t so lucky, falling to the Lady Wildcats of Greene County. The Lady Hornets meet Mercy Cross at 4 p.m., today in the girls’ consolation game, and the boys’ championship takes place around 8:30.

The Lady Hornets are 4-6 on the year.