By CURTIS ROCKWELL

Item Sports Editor

POPLARVILLE — Picayune and Poplarville split a pair of prep basketball games Monday night.

The Lady Hornets beat the Lady Tide for the second time this season, winning 54-40.

Poplarville is 8-3 on the season, while the Lady Tide dropped to 9-4.

Bretta Hart, Demi Beason and Daquari Raine each scored 15 apiece in the win for Poplarville, while Andrea Jackson had a game high 16 for Picayune and Melody McGill added 11.

The Maroon Tide took the boys game 71-38, as Picayune won its third straight game to move to 6-5 overall. Poplarville dropped to 1-9 on the season.

Vince Gable and Jorion Littles each scored 12 points for Picayune.

It was the first time the teams had met since the Hornets ended the Maroon Tide ‘s season last year in the first round of the division tournament.

“Those guys remembered that,” Picayune head coach Tom Taylor said. “Anytime you can put together a little run like we have done it’s a good thing, especially leading into January.”

The Maroon Tide travels to Vancleave tonight, while the Lady Tide is off until next week’s annual Holiday Tournament Monday and Tuesday, while both Poplarville teams host Pearl River Central tonight.

• Poplarville was coming off a split with Stone High on Friday night.

The Lady Hornets pulled out an exciting 75-67 win in overtime, as Daquari Raine poured in a career high 33 points to pace Poplarville to the win. Demi Beason added 19 and Bretta Hart 16 to the winning cause.

The Hornets fell to the Tomcats in a close 57-51 loss.

The Blue Devils come into tonight’s game against the Hornets off a 70-45 loss at home Friday to Wayne County to open Region play.

Jordan Fairconetue scored 15 and Ashton Woodson 14 for the Blue Devils.