By CURTIS ROCKWELL

Item Sports Editor

POPLARVILLE – Both Picayune’s boys and Poplarville’s girls stayed close to the top of the Division 8-4A standings with wins Tuesday night.

The Maroon Tide got a career high 31 points from Vince Gable as Picayune squeezed past the homestanding Hornets 50-48, while the Lady Hornets used a balancedd scoring attack and some strong defensive pressure to cruise to a 70-48 win over the Lady Tide.

With the win, the Maroon Tide movd to 8-7 overall but more importantly 4-1 in league action and sits in second place in the loop standings just behind St. Stanislaus.

“Any win in this division on the road is a huge victory,” Picayune first year head coach Tom Taylor said. “I would have liked for it not to be that close, but we’ll take it.”

Gable hit five 3-pointers in the win, including one in the third period that ignited a 16-1 Picayune run and erased a 34-30 Poplarville lead putting Picayune ahead 46-38 entering the final period.

The Hornets steadily cut into the deficit in the final frame, and had several shots at tying the game in the final seconds but came up short.

Lavelle Henry paced Poplarville with 18 points, as the Hornets dropped to 4-11 overall and 1-3 in league play.

The Lady Hornets used some intense full court pressure to overcome a slow start and turn the tide in their favor in the second period.

“We started slow, but the press turned it around for us and we got back into our style of play,” Lady Hornet head coach Annette Smith said. “We had lost two games in a row, so it was a good win to get back on track.”

The Lady Hornets placed four players in double figures, as Jeronda Beason tallied a game high 19 points and Daquari Raine added 16 while Demi Beason had 14 and Policia Travis chipped in 12 for Poplarville, which stands 11-4 overall and 3-1 in league play.

Monique Brown led Picayune with 18 points as the Lady Tide dropped to 4-11 overall and 2-2 in league play.

“Theytook us out of our game early,” Picayune head coach Kristie Mitchell said. “We have o learn how to handle the ball against pressure like that.”

Picayune’s teams host arch-rival Pearl River central on Friday while both Poplarville teams travel to Bay High. Both PRC teams were off Tuesday night before heading to Picayune Friday.