PICAYUNE — Trailing by one point with less than 20 seconds in the game, Picayune’s Maroon Tide failed to score on its last possession falling 40-39 against George County Tuesday night.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Picayune held a 34-30 lead but George County tied the ballgame after four straight points halfway through the fourth.

Sergio Williams scored the first two points of the quarter for the Maroon Tide to give the team a temporary 36-34 lead with less than three minutes left in the game.

Towards the end of the game, the Rebels outscored Picayune 6-1, with the lone point coming off a successful free throw by Williams.

Down by three points with a minute left in the game, Delrae Smith scored off a two-point shot and cut George County’s lead to only one point. After multiple timeouts from both teams, the Maroon Tide (15-7, 2-1 Region 7-5A) had a final chance to take the lead and possibly win the game, but the team was unable to find a shot at the basket. Smith finished the game with 17 points and Marvun Arnold had 10.

After the first quarter of the game, the game was tied at 13 points but by halftime, Picayune led 28-22. In the third quarter, Arnold scored six points to extend the Maroon Tide’s lead 34-22. Picayune was held to only 11 points in the second half, after having scored 28 in the first. The team has now lost four of its last six games. 

Jordan Griffith and Williams had six points each for Picayune.

“We are poorly coached, that’s all there is to it. The things we can’t do consistently are signs of a poorly coached team and that’s my responsibility,” Picayune Head boys basketball Coach Kelton Thompson said. “Being disciplined in all phases is what well coached teams do and we are not. With that being said, I can assure you that my staff and I will exhaust every measure to get us where we should be.”

— Lady Maroon Tide 50, Lady Rebels 17: A 38-point first half performance by the Lady Maroon Tide helped the team secure a 50-17 victory against George County Tuesday night at Kelly Wise Gymnasium.

For Picayune, Alanna Smith and Miracle Banks scored 11 points each, Rianna McNeely had six points and Jonirah Pulion finished with five. Picayune (9-11, 0-3 Region 7-5A) started the game on a 10-0 point run and led 15-2 by the end of the quarter. 

During the second quarter, the Lady Maroon Tide outscored the Lady Rebels 23-11, with points coming from Pulion, Smith, Banks, McNeely, Shamiah Bridges, Tailesha Quinn, Kylah Walker and Kyra Hathorne. After halftime, McNeely scored four points in the third quarter, Smith had two and Banks added one more for Picayune.

Verranda Holt scored three points and Hathorne added two for the Lady Maroon Tide during the last quarter.

Both the boys and girls teams will host Pearl River Central High School in a district matchup Friday night. The Lady Maroon Tide game will tip-off at 6 p.m. and the boys team will begin at 7:30 p.m.