By CURTIS ROCKWELL

Item Sports Editor

CARRIERE — Poplar-ville’s Lady Hornets knocked off homestanding Pearl River Central 43-22 in county rivalry action Tuesday night.

The Lady Hornets jumped out to a quick 13-2 lead early, as Bretta Hart scored seven points in the first quarter.

Poplarville moves to 6-3 with the win. The Lady Hornets have been playing without a pair of starters in Policia Travis and Jeronda Beason for the past five games.

Daquari Raine scored 14 for Poplarville while Demi Beason added 12.

The loss was the eighth straight on the season for the Lady Devils, and they fall to 2-10 on the year.

Poplarville made it a clean sweep on the night as the Hornets got their first win of the season with a 70-56 win.

The Hornets are 1-7, while the Blue Devils are 4-9. PRC had no answer for big man Freddy Dickey, as he paced Poplarville with 20 points and Jalen Raine and Rod Means each added 12 apiece to the winning effort.

“It feels good to get out of that losing column, that’s for sure,” Poplarville second year head coach Kwame Smith said.

Both PRC teams open region play hosting Wayne County Friday night, while the Hornets and Lady Hornets travel to Stone on Friday as well.

• In Picayune, the homestanding squads swept a pair of games from visiting St. Martin.

The Lady Tide moved to an impressive 9-2 on the season, thanks to a 58-40 win. Arriana McGill scored 15 in the win and dished out seven assists Kionna Magee added 14 while Sahara Wilson added eight points as well. Picayune head coach Jason Kennedy cited Tee Myers for her defensive play.

The Maroon Tide made it a sweep with an exciting 58-54 win. Vince Gable paced Picayune with 20 points, and he sank four free throws in the final 40 seconds also. Derrione Stewart added 13 and Scottie Merrill 10 to the winning cause. Picayune avenged a one point loss to the Yellow Jackets just a couple of weeks ago, and the Tide is now 4-5.

Both Picayune teams host Hancock Friday night.