POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River men's basketball team made sure that its final home contest of 2023 was an exciting one as the Wildcats crushed William Carey JV 87-42 inside Marvin R. White Coliseum Monday night.
"You never want to take anyone lightly, and you want to treat every opponent the same," head coach Chris Oney said. "I was proud of our guys for playing hard throughout."
GAME RECAP
Pearl River (7-2) went on an early 10-2 run against William Carey JV — highlighted by a great play by Cedquavious Hunter (Como; North Panola). The Cal State Bakersfield transfer moved inside the arc, faked a shot and found Austin Green (Sicklerville, N.J.; Timber Creek Regional) inside for a basket.
Hunter carried PRCC on another run shortly after that began when he plucked away a pass at half-court and carried it the rest of the way for a two-handed slam. A few plays later, he received a pass from Dorien Goodman (Dallas, Texas; Lancaster) and hit nothing but net from the top of the arc. He extended the lead to 19-4 after nailing a pull-up jumper on the inbound pass.
Pearl River's lead swelled to 31-10 with 8:40 left in the first half thanks to a Hunter old-fashioned 3-pointer and Green knocking down a layup with an assist by Tye Gholar (Jackson; Provine).
Gholar was huge down the stretch of the first half for the first half. He first nailed a pull-up jumper, followed by a 3-pointer from the right wing. He capped off his impressive run by nailing a corner 3-pointer off a Joshua Holmes (Picayune) assist to extend the lead to 45-15.
The Wildcats walked into the midway point with an impressive 30-point 49-19 lead over the Crusaders.
Devin Jones (Camden; Velma Jackson) caught fire to begin the second half, scoring PRCC's first four points. The second basket saw him score on the fastbreak as Goodman heaved a pass from down the court to the sprinting freshman for the score, 53-22.
Dawson Jr. was a force on the glass soon after. On back-to-back plays, the Kaskaskia transfer grabbed an offensive rebound and scored — the second was a ferocious two-handed slam on a missed 3-pointer.
Hunter delivered some of the game's most exciting plays for the Wildcats by nailing four straight 3-pointers. After knocking down the first, Hunter checked his range and promptly nailed a deep 3-pointer. One long-range 3-pointer later, Hunter decided to throw up his longest of the night, slashing a 3-pointer from well over 40 feet into the basket, 73-31.
Holmes joined in on the scoring party on the next offensive possession as he banked a 3-pointer into the basket. He created offense with his defense soon after snatching the ball away from a Crusader and taking it coast-to-coast for the score.
Dyllion Redmond (Jackson; Callaway) added to the 3-point barrage with 5:55 remaining in the game, and on the very next play, he put back a missed jumper, 84-36.
The Wildcats eventually walked away with a 45-point victory over the Crusaders, 87-42.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Hunter finished with a game-high 26 points and five steals.
"He's getting a lot more comfortable out there," Oney said. "Going from Division I to Junior College is a change. It took him a little time to get adjusted to the game. We've been trying to bring him along slowly."
Green was second on the team, scoring 16 points and grabbing six rebounds in just 14 minutes of action.
Dawson Jr. finished with an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double. Gholar rounded out those in double digits with 10 points.
Redmond finished with a game-high 13 rebounds. Jones and Davion James (Brandon; Northwest Rankin) had six rebounds apiece.
UP NEXT
Pearl River returns to the court for the final time next Tuesday for a road matchup at Calhoun. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
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