PRCC women fall just short of trip to national tourney
Published 7:00 am Saturday, March 8, 2014
EYE ON THE PRIZE: Pearl River’s Jeremy Hollimon drives the basket in the Wildcats’ 72-64 quarter-final win over Southern-Shreveport in Region 23 Tournament action underway at Mississippi College in Clinton. Hollimon sank a game-high 20 points in the victory.
Mitch Deaver | PRCC
CLINTON — Former Picayune standout Tee Myers denied Pearl River Community College a trip to the National Junior College basketball Tournament Friday afternoon.
Myers, a starting forward for Southwest Community College, came up with a key rebound late in the game and then nailed a pair of free throws with 39 seconds to play as the Lady Bears beat the Lady Wildcats 59-58 in the Region 23 semifinals.
The exciting showdown changed leads five times in the final two minutes before Myers’ free throws resulted in the final score. PRCC had several shots in the final seconds to win the game, but couldn’t convert.
Myers finished with seven points and a team high 10 rebounds for the Lady Bears. Katrina Littlepage tallied a game high 26 points for Southwest, 20 of those coming in the second half. Kalisha Washington paced PRCC with 16 points.
Southwest will face Baton Rouge CC in the women’s finals tonight. Both team have already earned spots in the national tourney in Salinas, Kan., later this month.
The semifinal round definitely had a Pearl River County flavor to it.
Not only was Myers along with both PRCC teams in action, but former Pearl River Central standout Caroline Lumpkin plays for Co-Lin. The Lady Wolves came up just short of a spot in the national tourney, falling to Baton Rouge CC 78-70.
The PRCC men played in the semifinals in a late game Friday night against Northwest CC to decide a spot in tonight’s finals. A full report on that game, as well as the finals, will appear in Tuesday’s Item.
The Wildcats advanced to the semifinals with a 72-64 win over Southern-Shreveport Thursday night.
The River improved to 17-7 overall, while the losing Jaguars ended their season at 15-7 and a 14-game win streak came to an abrupt end.
Pearl River held Southern-Shreve scoreless for the first five-plus minutes of the game and the Jags never recovered. The Wildcats jumped out to a 13-0 advantage.
Troy State (Ala.) signee Jeremy Hollimon of Gulfport High paced The River with a game-high 20 points (four assists), while Southeastern Louisiana signee DeAngelo Coleman of South Pike High added 13 Points.
