Picayune’s boys secured the second seed in the upcoming Region 7-5A Tournament with a road win over Long Beach Friday night.

Shemar Williams scored 22 of his 24 points in the second half, as the Maroon Tide pulled out an impressive 67-51 win over the Bearcats.

Picayune moved to 11-10 on the year, but more importantly the Maroon Tide finishes 3-3 in league play and earned the second seed over Stone County due to a point differential even though they split a pair of games with the Tomcats this season.

Williams recorded a double-double in the win, adding 10 rebounds to his game high 24 point total. He was one of four Picayune players in double digits, as Donovan Rice added 15 points and five assist and Coren Nixon chipped in a career high 13 points and five boards as well. Hakeem Magee had 10 points and 8 rebounds for the Maroon Tide also.

The Lady Tide fell 56-50 to Long Beach. The home team overcame a four point halftime deficit with a 12-2 run in the third frame to take control.

It was the first win in district play for the Lady ‘Cats.

Tramaine Marshall tallied 18 points to pace Long Beach.

Both Picayune teams hosted Hancock in a pair of games Monday night, in games that were postponed from last week due to inclement weather.

Also, both Picayune teams travel to Petal tonight and then both will host Bay High Friday night in the final home games of the regular season.

In other action over the weekend, Pearl River Central was 0-4 in a Region 5-5A doubleheader of sorts. Both PRC teams hosted Wingfield Friday night and then took on Natchez Saturday at home as well in league play.

The Lady Devils fell to Wingfield 44-28, despite getting senior standout center Jessica powers back for the first time in two months.

Powers, a Dandy Dozen selection, scored just seven points but had 15 rebounds and 15 blocks in the loss. Brandi Lee paced PRC with 11 points and had seven rebounds as well, while Kim Guiterrez also had seven points and six assists.

The Falcons beat the Blue Devils 59-37.Donte Stephens led the Blue Devils with 11 points.

On Saturday, Natchez won the girls game 46-18. Powers had nine points, eight rebounds and seven blocks in the losing effort, while Lee had six points and six rebounds.

The Bulldogs beat the Blue Devils 57-40. Alex Travis paced PRC with 13 points.

Both PRC teams are winless at 0-5 in league play, with one district game left. The Blue Devils and the Lady Devils each traveled to county rival Poplarville for a pair of games Monday night. A complete story on those games, along with Picayune’s games against Hancock, will appear in Wednesday’s Item.

Both Poplarville squads came into Monday night’s games off a league sweep of Vancleave on Senior Night Friday night.

The Lady Hornets won 39-36.

The Hornets beat the Bulldogs 69-41. Emetric Fells tallied 13 points to pace Poplarville to the win, while Anthony Martin added 12 points to the winning cause.

After Monday’s games against Pearl River Central, both Poplarville squads will wrap up Region 8-4A regular season play with road games later this week. Poplarville travels to Pass Christian Thursday in a pair of games postponed from last week, and then both squads head to Moss Point Friday night.