Pierce County won two of three games during a busy week with the loss ending a three-game winning streak.
The Bears (3-4) notched a second straight victory rolling to a 71-41 thumping Tuesday, December 9 of visiting Charlton County (4-5) for a split in the season series. The Indians, who suffered a second straight loss after winning three straight, prevailed 33-32 November 20.
“We shot the ball our best this season,” said head coach Shannon Batten. “We communicated on defense and had good patience running our offensive sets.”
The 30-point win was the first for PCHS since beating Appling County 72-41 January 13, 2023 — a span of 61 games. It marked just the sixth 30point decision since the 2012-13 campaign covering 325 games (128-197 won-loss mark; three winning seasons).
Charlton County has been on the receiving end five times with spreads of 34 (2015), 54 (2016), 33 (2017), 36 (2019) and 30 (2025).
The Bears escaped with a 66-63 decision Thursday, December 11 in Mt. Vernon against Montgomery County (1-5) handing the Eagles a fourth consecutive loss.
“This was not our best performance compared to the Charlton game,” Batten said. “I’m happy with the win, but we went through the motion on offense and were slack on defense. We did just enough to get the win.”
Wayne County (7-1) stretched its winning streak to four games Saturday, December 13 winning 63-43 to end PCHS’s three-game winning streak.
“Three games in a week is tough and fatigue maybe hurt us,” Batten said following the loss to Wayne County. “We had our worst first quarter of the season and got in foul trouble. We fought hard and played hard through the adversity on court. They (Jackets) have the best starting five I have seen this season.” Pierce County closes out its pre-Christmas schedule with two games this week. The Bears host Jeff Davis Tuesday, December 16 and Brantley County Friday, December 19.
Bears......................71 Charlton Co. ..........41
BEARVILLE — Pierce County exploded for a 4117 scoring advantage over the final two periods to pull away from a six-point halftime lead to beat the Indians.
The Bears had a trio of players reach double figures led by the game-high and career-high 19-point effort of Jikeyse McGauley, who buried five threepointers. McGauley netted 11 points (three treys) in the opening period and had 16 points at intermission.
Nigel Brown scored 12 of his 18 points (two treys) in the second half. Chezz Armstrong finished with 11 of his 15 points over the final two periods. Both players were 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
“Jikeyse, Nigel and Chezz really played well on both ends for us,” Batten said. “The subs came in and played well.”
The Bears scored the first six points, fell behind 9-8 before scoring nine of the final 11 points in the period to take a 17-11 lead. Both teams scored 13 points in the second stanza with PCHS taking a 30-24 lead into the break.
Pierce County pulled away in the third quarter outscoring the Indians 218 with Brown and Armstrong combining for 16 points in opening up a 5132 advantage. PCHS outpointed the visitors 20-9 over the final eight minutes.
Tymere Monroe was next on the Bears’ scoring column with six points. Shavez Warren and Chance Williams contributed four points apiece. Jamil Strickland bagged two points with Amir McKenzie adding a free throw.
“Teamwork is still key for us this season,” Batten said. “We shared the ball and that was huge. We had a lot guys score which can be a headache for opposing defenses to stop.”
“We made some careless passes at times which led to easy baskets for Charlton County. We need to do a much better job rebounding and finding our guards on outlet passes.”
Christian Brown paced Charlton County with 15 points. Brown was followed by the seven points of Omari Wilson, six points by Trevon Cobb and five points from A.J. Glover.
Bears.....................66 Montgomery Co.....63
MT. VERNON — A three-point basket at the halftime buzzer by Chance Williams gave PCHS a three-point lead it would on to with each team scoring 33 points in the second half.
The Bears claimed a 1210 lead at the end of the opening eight minutes. The scoring pace quickened in the second period with Brown (game-high 26 points - three threes) and McGauley (17 points one trey) combining for 16 points in Pierce County’s 21-20 scoring advantage for a 33-30 lead.
The Bears trailed 30-24 before closing with a 9-0 run culminated by the Williams’ (five points) trey.
“It seemed like we were in a fog physically,” said Batten. “We were nonenergetic at times and lost focus on both ends. We made a higher surge to end the half when Chance hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.”
“They (Eagles) had quick, shifty guards and we didn’t keep them in front of us. We tried for steals and they made us pay. They made lots of easy buckets due to our laziness on defense.”
Montgomery County sliced the deficit to on by the end of a see-saw third quarter outscoring PCHS 14-12 to trail 45-44. The two teams combined for 40 points over the final eight minutes with Pierce County outscoring the Eagles 21-19.
Armstrong and D.J. Moody each bagged six point. Strickland netted four points with Shavez Warren chipping in two points.
Montgomery County was paced by the 24 points of Jaquez Kelly (three treys). Tamaury Lanier added 12 points.
“Their (Eagles) No. 2 (Kelly) has had a 40-point game and 36-point game already this year. We put Jikeyse, Chezz and Nigel on him and limited his touches and he still scored 24.”
Wayne Co. .............63 Bears.....................43
BEARVILLE — Visiting Wayne County opened and closed Saturday’s game with a 30-point scoring advantage in beating the Bears.
The Yellow Jackets outscored PCHS 45-15 in the first and fourth quarters. The Bears outpointed Wayne County 28-18 over the middle two periods.
Wayne County took control early building a double-digit advantage in an 18-2 first quarter blitz. PCHS sliced seven points off the margin by intermission outpointing the Yellow Jackets 15-8 in the second period to get to within 26-17 at the break.
The Bears whittled three points off the deficit in the third stanza outscoring Wayne County 1310 to trail 36-30 with eight minutes to play. Dwayne Smith (game-high 21 points) and Ralph Doomes (11 points) combined for 19 points in the final quarter leading the visitors to a 27-13 scoring advantage.
Brown paced the Bears with 14 points with McGauley (three treys) following with 11 points. Warren and Armstrong contributed six and five points respectively.
Strickland finished with four points. Chance Williams bagged two points with Moody converting a free throw.
Cha’Gaiedn Frazier gave the Yellow Jackets three players in double figures finishing with 12 points.
