The Picayune football team won the Class 5A state football championship back in early December. Now, three months and one day later, the Maroon Tide basketball squad will try and duplicate the same feat.
Picayune stunned the Mississippi prep basketball world Tuesday night by thumping perennial state power Jackson Provine 60-49 in the Class 5A overall semifinals in Jackson at The Mississippi Coliseum.
The win in the Final Four pushes Picayune into the state championship game Friday night at 7 p.m., also at the Big House and the title tilt will be an all South State affair as the Maroon Tide will face Hattiesburg which knocked off Canton 61-51 Tuesday night as well.
This marks just the third boys’ state hoops championship game that the Maroon Tide has qualified for and the first in 15 years. Picayune lost to New Hope in overtime in 2008 and lost to Jackson Lanier in 2002.
The Provine Rams, on the other hand, have won five state championships and played for 10 total.
But Picayune never let an anticipated matchup between perennial state powerhouses Hattiesburg and Jackson Provine match-up for the gold ball materialize Tuesday night.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, as Provine led by two points at the end of the first quarter (7-5) but the Maroon Tide used a 13-5 spurt in the second stanza to take a slight 21-20 lead into intermission.
PIcayune extended its close advantage by just a bit as the third frame unfolded, and led by four at 34-30 entering the fourth period.
The Rams cut into the deficit in the opening minutes of the final frame, drawing to within one at 36-35, but the Maroon Tide responded quickly to keep Provine at bay. Picayune went on a 13-5 run after the Rams moved close, and ended up out-scoring the Rams 26-19 in the period to close out the monumental win.
The win was the 20th of the season for head coach Eric Vianney’s Maroon Tide squad, who now stand 20-15 on the year. Troy Carter poured in a game-high 23 points to lead Picayune, while Josh Holmes chipped in 16 points for the Maroon Tide.
Tye Gholar scored 11 points to lead Provine, as the Rams finish the season at 24-8.
The championship game will be a rematch of an early regular season match-up between the Maroon Tide and the Hub City Tigers, as Hattiesburg beat Picayune 54-47 on Nov. 8th. Hattiesburg stands 23-7 overall.
The Class 5A girls’ state championship game will precede the boys’ action, as Jackson Callaway smacked Laurel 68-37 and West Jones beat Lafayette 54-39 Tuesday night. Callaway and West Jones will meet at 5 p.m., Friday for the girls’ gold ball.
