When the Hornets needed a boost in Friday’s bout against Purvis, it was the team’s trusted senior Tamiljah Merrill that came up big, pacing Poplarville to beat Purvis 44-38.

In the final seconds of the third quarter, the game was tied 34-34. As the buzzer sounded, Merrill launched a deep 3-pointer through the net, giving the Hornets a three-point lead that led to a swing in momentum going into the final quarter.

“That was a huge shot for us. Tamiljah likes having the ball in pressure situations and that’s a great weapon to have on your team,” Poplarville Head Coach Chareck Cable said.

After that shot, the Hornets limited the Tornadoes to scoring four points in the fourth quarter.

Merrill ended the night leading the Hornets with 19 points, 12 of which came from behind the arc, four rebounds and three assists. Poplarville’s Cannan Ray marked 13 points and Tyler Griffin nabbed eight rebounds and scored seven points.

To begin the game, Tornadoes junior guard C.J. Bolar came out with a vengeance—after losing to Poplarville 42-38 a week prior—scoring Purvis’ first four points and grabbing five rebounds in the first two minutes of the game. Poplarville was limited to a single field goal in the first quarter, a 3-pointer by Ray, which closed the opening quarter 4-3.

Immediately after the second quarter began, both teams started a scoring frenzy. The Hornets went on an 11-5 run before the Tornadoes Dakota Smith cranked back-to-back contested 3-pointers in the left corner of the court. The game was tied 17-17 with 1:01 to go in the first half.

At the end of the half, Bolar scored a layup to tally 12 out of the 19 first half points for Purvis, giving them a 19-17 lead.

Both teams came out of the locker room unable to gain a significant lead. However, Poplarville managed to sink four out of its six total 3-pointers and outscored Purvis 18-15 in the third quarter, which was just enough to get another gut-wrenching district win.

“We need to start developing a winning mentality as we head into these final games of the season. If we can all get on board and play good basketball for four quarters, we could be special,” Cable said.

Poplarville (9-8; 2-2) will host Sumrall (4-11; 0-4) in a district contest on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Lady Hornets serve Purvis back-to-back defeats

The Poplarville Lady Hornets started Friday’s game against Purvis firing on all cylinders as senior point guard Mallory Smith steered the Lady Hornets to a 75-62 victory with 21 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Zanaisha Merrill led Poplarville with 32 points while swiping 12 rebounds.

On defense, Poplarville (12-5; 3-0) forced error after error for Purvis (13-8; 0-4) in the first quarter, and capitalized on those mistakes to round out the first quarter with a 22-8 lead.

Lady Hornets Jasmine Merrill scored all of her eight points in the first quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers that put the Lady Tornadoes on their heels. Merrill finished with 10 rebounds and three assists.

“Everyone wants to beat Poplarville it seems like,” Poplarville Head Coach Dee Robinson said. “But our mentality is to focus on ourselves and try to score on every possession.”

This is Robinson’s first winning season so far in her four-year tenure as Poplarville’s head coach. The philosophy she instills in her players is quite simple.

“I tell them that the ball is your boyfriend, so go get it,” Robinson said. “You got to love the game in order to find success in it and this group of girls really enjoy playing alongside each other.”

After trailing 36-26 at halftime, the Lady Tornadoes came out with a half court trap to try and force turnovers to get back into the game. However, the move backfired as Poplarville was able to penetrate the gaps and transition the ball quickly, while scoring 19 points in the third quarter. Despite gaining more separation from the Lady Tornadoes, Poplarville continued to soar in the fourth quarter, scoring 20 additional points to Purvis’ 11 and concluding the district bout with a 13-point lead.

The Lady Hornets will host Sumrall (5-9; 2-2) on Tuesday at 6 p.m.