POPLARVILLE – Darrlyn Willis scored a game-high 26 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the defending state champion Pearl River Wildcats to a 71-56 South Division win over the Co-Lin Wolves Monday night.

Co-Lin (1-7, 0-2) will host Delgado Community College on Saturday at 3 p.m. Listen live at www.colinathletics.com or on WMJU 104.3 FM in Brookhaven.

The Wolves played a good first half going into halftime trailing 34-31. Sophomore Donte Watson hit a 3-pointer just across the half court line as time expired.

With 18:31 left in the second half, Watson hit another 3-pointer to tie the game at 36-all. The Wolves took a 6-1 run to take a 42-37 lead with 17:00 minutes remaining. But the Wolves shooting would go cold and Wildcats would go on an 18-8 run to take a 65-50 lead with 5:31 left in the game.

“I’m really proud of our guys for the way they played tonight,” said Co-Lin head coach Kenny Bizot. “I know the outcome, the score and where we stand today. It was totally different from Thursday night. In the first half we played with a lot of intensity and emotion. This was a situation where we had a hard time scoring. They are just a really good basketball team, we fought hard and just didn’t have enough in us tonight.”

In addition to Willis’ 26 points, Tedd Scott added 15 points for Pearl River.

For Co-Lin, Watson would be the only player in double figures with a team-high 25 points and 6 rebounds. Darius Kennedy would add 5 rebounds and dish out 6 assists. Jadarius Haymer would pull down 5 rebounds.

The Wildcats shot 44 percent (27-of-62) from the field while the Wolves shot 40 percent (22-of-55).