JACKSON, Miss. — The No. 11 Pearl River women’s basketball team’s Region 23 Tournament run ended Thursday night at Kroger Gymnasium on Tougaloo College’s campus, falling in the semifinals to Southwest, 47-44. The Bears hit a 3-pointer with 5.6 seconds left on the clock to win.
The Wildcats will have to receive an at-large bid into the NJCAA National Tournament in Casper, Wyo. The 24-team bracket will be announced on Sunday at 7 p.m. Only eight teams earn at-large bids.
“I just thought we played too tight at times. We weren’t locked in and focused in the first half,” head coach Scotty Fletcher said. “Our effort in the second half was phenomenal to fight back the way we did. I know what I’ve got in that locker room. I have a bunch of winners. Those girls have been bought in since they got here. The ball just didn’t go our way tonight. I’ve never been more proud of our girls than I am for tonight with how we fought back.”
It was an uncharacteristically slow and sloppy first quarter for Pearl River (27-4 overall) and Southwest (22-7), who only managed seven points apiece throughout the first 10 minutes of action.
The Wildcats moved back in front early in the second quarter as Samya Brooks (Pontotoc) snatched an offensive rebound and put it right back up 9-7. Despite the quick Wildcat basket, Southwest outscored Pearl River 18-8 in the quarter and led 25-15 as the halftime buzzer sounded.
Halftime adjustments were good for the Wildcats as they slowly began scratching their way back into the game. After a quick free throw, Alexis Arrington (Terry) picked up four straight points to make the deficit 25-20. She drove the lane with defenders draped all over her and managed to get a tough layup to fall. Her smooth free throw shot picked up the next two points.
Avery Young (Iota, La.) struck next, catching a jump pass from Arrington in the right corner and hitting nothing but net on her 3-point shot, 25-23. Following a Bear free throw, Young struck again, cutting inside along the baseline and dropping a perfect floater through the hoop to make it a one-point deficit, 26-25.
Southwest stretched its lead back out to 30-25 before another Pearl River response brought it back to a one-point game just before the third quarter ended, thanks to Audria Houston (Oxford; Tupelo), who plucked a ball away from an unsuspecting Bear and dashed down the court for a layup, 30-29.
Pearl River took its first lead since very early in the second quarter with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter after a jumper from Young, 33-32. That’s when the back-and-forth truly began.
Southwest responded with a basket to move ahead 34-33, and Pearl River moved right back in front on a Roge’Ne’ Hillard (Hazlehurst; Copiah Academy) layup. The play was set up by Young, who drove and threw a no-look pass down low for the freshman center, 35-34. Johnson-Matthews extended it to a three-point lead by driving the lane for an easy layup, 37-34.
Pearl River briefly went ahead by four points on another 3-pointer off the hands of Young, 42-38. Again, Southwest fought back, squaring the game at 42 apiece and then taking a 44-42 lead.
Just as she had done all game, Young was clutch on the next Wildcat possession, dashing down low and picking up a layup to even things up at 44-44. With 1:13 left in the game, Arrington drew a big foul and knocked down one of her free throw attempts to push Pearl River ahead, 45-44.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the time ticked down, and the Bears crushed a 3-pointer with 5.6 left in the game. Pearl River got the ball in the hands of its hottest player for the last play of the game, but Young’s layup didn’t fall, and PRCC lost 47-44.
BY THE NUMBERS
Young led Pearl River with 19 points. Johnson-Matthews finished with eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
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