CLINTON – Northwest got sweet revenge over Pearl River from a heartbreaking state tournament loss a week ago in Poplarville, ending the 20th-ranked Wildcats' season with an 89-81 victory to advance to the Region XXIII Tournament Finals.
Northwest improved to 19-7 overall and will play in its first region championship since the 2005-06 season on Saturday, March 9 at 8 p.m. against three-time reigning champion, East Mississippi (19-7). The two teams split in the regular season.
Northwest broke away from a 37-30 halftime lead with 65 percent shooting in the second half, building its lead to as many as 14 with 15:54 to play.
The Rangers led for all but 11 seconds from the 8:50-mark of the first half until the final buzzer – a span of 28:39 – and held off a late surge from Pearl River.
The Wildcats (23-5) rallied to tie the game at 76-all with 3:57 to play, but every time they threatened to take the lead, Northwest would come up with a clutch basket.
Deangelo Coleman's fastbreak 3-pointer pulled the game within 84-81 with 27 seconds left before two clutch free throws by D.J. Biggs and a game-ending dunk by Domonique Harris sealed the victory.
Harris, for a second straight day, scored 19 second half points to pace the offense and finished with a team-high 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Charles Eaton and Tristan Moore added 16 points apiece in addition to 10 points and five assists from Biggs.
Pearl River was paced by a game-high 25 from Xavier Rimmer, while Demondre Harvey added 14 points and 11 rebounds. Jeremy Hollimon contributed 15 and Frank Snow added 13.
Despite a huge deficit on the boards, 46-27, Northwest shot 54 percent for the game and played the most unselfish game of the season with 23 assists off 30 made field goals. Pearl River shot 40 percent.
Northwest and East Mississippi square off in the region championship at 8 p.m. Saturday night. The winner will advance to the NJCAA Tournament field of 24 in Hutchinson, Kan., March 18-23.
Watch live in HD at www.emccathletics.com with EMCC's Derek Cody on the call.
