Blue Devils lose to H'burg Tigers; play at home on Tuesday

Hattiesburg—The Pearl River Central Blue Devils got off a fast start against the Hattiesburg Tigers, but the Tigers stormed back and held on for a 49-47 victory to claim the Region 7-5A championship at Buddy Watkins Gymnasium on Friday.

PRC started with a pair of three pointers from Ethan Henley and Willie Reece for a quick 6-0 lead and then closed the period on two more three point baskets from A.J. Banks and Reece to lead 17-10. The Blue Devils led 25-21 at the half.

In the third period, Hattiesburg inserted normal starters William Robinson and Mattias Pruitt (both did not play in the first half for undisclosed reasons) and the duo combined for twelve points in the period to put the Tigers up 38-35 heading into the fourth period.

Hattiesburg was able to build a 47-37 lead with 2:10 left on a dunk by Robinson, but the Blue Devils chipped away on a three pointer by Henley, a Reece free throw, and a Banks three pointer to cut the lead to 48-44 with :58 left. Pruitt made one free throw with :19 left and Banks made another three pointer at the buzzer to make the final 49-47.

Banks led PRC with 19 points and Reece had 17 points.

Cameron Brown paced Hattiesburg with 16 points, and Pruitt added 13 points, all in the second half. Robinson added 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots in the second half.

Banks, Reece, Henley, and Jason Long were all named to the all region team with Banks capturing the region's most outstanding offensive player award.

PRC will play at home on Tuesday against Natchez. The game can be heard on WRJW 1320 AM and wrjwradio.com as well as the WRJW app.

Also, on Tuesday, Picayune’s boys will travel to play Jackson Wingfield.

On Monday, PRC’s girls travel to Jackson Wingfield and that game can be heard on WRJW 1320 AM and wrjwradio.com as well as the WRJW app.