Pierce County split two road games with the Bears notching their first win of the season Saturday in Alma.
The Bears (1-3) suffered their third loss in as many games falling 62-39 Thursday, December 4 at Jeff Davis (1-3). The Yellow Jackets dropped two of their first three games by a single basket.
Pierce County picked up its first win in the Shannon Batten era Saturday, December 6 in Alma knocking off Bacon County (3-5) 47-41. The victory gave the Bears a split in the season series. The Red Raiders posted a 65-50 victory November 18 in Bearville.
“Getting the monkey off the back feels awesome!” said Batten of his first career win. “That was a great feeling. the players helped celebrate it as well.”
“Thanks for the community support as well coming over and supporting us tonight.”
PCHS hosted Charlton County Tuesday, December 9 in the first of three games on this week’s slate. The Bears travel Thursday, December 11 to Mt. Vernon to face Montgomery County and return home for a Saturday, December 13 matchup with Wayne County.
Jeff Davis ..............62 Bears.....................39 HAZLEHURST — Jeff Davis built a 10-point halftime lead eventually putting the game away over the final eight minutes.
The Bears received 33 of their 39 points from the bench.
The Yellow Jackets claimed a 14-6 lead after one period. They stretched the margin to double figures by halftime at 28-18 outscoring PCHS 14-12 in the second stanza.
“We came out flat with no energy and quickly fell behind 10-0 before scoring,” said Batten. “We finally gained some footing and got to within four points in the second period before they (Yellow Jackets) pushed the lead back out to 10 at the break.”
“We didn’t shot ball well at all the entire game. In the third period we got to within three before wheels come off the bus. They out hustled and out rebounded us.”
The two teams battled to a 14-all standoff in the third quarter with Jeff Davis taking a 42-32 lead into the final stanza. The Yellow Jackets outpointed Pierce County 20-7 to pull away.
Nigel Brown (five treys) came off the bench to score a team-high 18 points in his first action of the season. D.J. Moody and Amir McKenzie scored six points and five points respectively off the bench.
Chezz Armstrong and Jamil Strickland (bench) finished with four points apiece. Jikeyse McGauley netted two points.
“Nigel played well and showed some grit and leadership to keep us around and chance to make surge to get back in the game,” added Batten.
J.J. Benjamin paced Jeff Davis with a gamehigh 21 points with J.T. Bryant adding 12 points.
Bears .....................47 Bacon Co................41 ALMA — PCHS protected a nine-point halftime lead keeping the Red Raiders at bay over the final 16 minutes.
“With four total days of practice with the arriving football players and the existing players we’re getting better,” Batten said. “The team has had good interaction and the willingness to help is awesome.
“We played great team defense all night. We were able to limit the touches of Bacon County’s No. 4 (Santiago Bizell) and #5 (K.J. Barnes), who destroyed us in 1st game of season. Give credit to Jamil (Strickland), Tymere (Monroe) and Jikeyse (McGauley).
“I’m super proud of all the players, especially the team bench during the game bringing lots of high energy to help encourage players on the floor. I thank the community for their support.”
Brown and Strickland led the Bears with 12 points and 10 points respectively. Bacon County was paced by the gamehigh 13-point effort of Santiago Bizell.
Pierce County built a 12-4 advantage in the opening eight minutes. The Bears added a point to its margin in the second stanza outscoring Bacon County 13-12 for a 25-16 halftime lead.
The home team sliced two points off the margin during the third period outscoring PCHS 12-10 to get to within 35-28. Bacon County cut one more point off the margin during the final eight minutes outscoring the Bears 1312.
“We still got sloppy with the ball at times and had numerous careless turnovers which kept Bacon in the game,” Batten added. “Consistency and patience will get better, but it’s got to be one step at a time.”
McGauley and Armstrong followed the lead of Brown and Strickland finishing with eight points and seven points respectively.
Moody canned five points with Shavez Warren and McKenzie netting two points each. Chance Williams added a free throw.
