Parklane, PCS eliminate BA teams

Published 6:00 am Thursday, March 1, 2007

CLINTON — Parklane Academy of McComb and Presbyterian ChristianSchool of Hattiesburg put a halt on Brookhaven Academy’s basketballseason Wednesday night in the MPSA Overall Tournament. Parklane’sPioneers whipped BA’s Cougars 65-35 and the PCS Lady Bobcatsblasted BA’s Lady Cougars 42-30 in A.E. Wood Coliseum.

Parklane (27-5) advances to Friday night’s semifinals which havebeen moved to Jackson Prep, meeting Greenwood Pillow at 6 p.m. PCS(33-5) plays Madison-Ridgeland Academy in the afternoon semifinals.MRA faces Huntington (La.) in the other semifinals boys game. Leakeplays Mt. Salus in the other girls game.

The Lady Cougars (36-6) were smothered by thePCS defense. They trailed 28-14 at halftime.

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“PCS is so sticky on defense,” said BA girls coach Barry Gray.”You can’t get shots you normally get.

“Our girls came back and cut it (lead) to seven. This was a newatmosphere for our kids and they lost to one of the top three teamsin the tournament.”

Sophomore forward Drew Holland Tigner led the Lady Cougars with20 points. Kacey Rutland grabbed 8 rebounds.

The Lady Bobcats started fast, taking a 9-0 lead as guard LaurieCooper hit 4 straight baseline drives and a free throw. They led18-4 at the quarter and outrebounded Brookhaven 7-2.

PCS, coached by Missy Bilderback, got 11 points and 10 reboundsfrom 6-foot-1 senior center Julie Little. The Lady ‘Cats shot 45percent from the field compared to BA’s 33.3 percent.

The Cougars (31-4) ran into an offensivebuzzsaw as the Pioneers cruised to a 16-4, first-quarter lead andincreased it to 35-11 at halftime. BA was outrebounded 35-13 forthe game and shot 26 percent from the field.

The Pioneers were powered by 6-3 junior guard Dane Hogan’s 23points and 10 rebounds. Hogan had 17 of his point at halftime.

“We knew Hogan was a superior athlete,” said BA boys coach DaleWatts. “He has the ability to fly. He passed over us and shot overus.”

Watts praised the Pioneers. “Parklane outplayed us and they werebetter than us, plain and simple. They outquicked us at a lot ofpositions.”

T-Boy Lynch, BA’s only senior and leading scorer, was held to 3points. The Cougars got 12 points from Corey Dickerson. DanielLofton grabbed 5 rebounds.

Parklane coach Ricky Gray said his team had the advantage ofplaying a game Tuesday in A.E. Wood Coliseum. It helped thePioneers adjust to the spacious surroundings.

“Us playing here last night (Tuesday) really helped us,” saidGray. “This is a hard gym to shoot in but we shot greattonight.”

Gray, a 1977 BA graduate who coached 3 years at his alma mater,said his game plan was to start fast against the Cougars. “Youcan’t get behind Coach Watts. Our game plan was to get aheadearly.”

According to Gray, Hogan under went a heart catherizationprocedure three weeks ago. He returned to practice and has steadilygrown stronger.

“This is really fun to see Dane play,” said Gray. “We arestarting to come together as a team again.”

Tyler Cunningham, Parklane’s 6-7 senior, finished with 8 pointsand 7 rebounds. He fouled out with 50 seconds left in the thirdquarter, drawing a technical foul for disputing a call by theofficial.

Cunningham is 1 of 3 seniors in Parklane’s starting lineup.William Huggins, a 6-2 senior guard, had 9 points and 6rebounds.