POPLARVILLE – Playing against tournament host and 20th-ranked Pearl River, Northwest could do no wrong in the first half and darted out to a 17-point halftime lead before the Wildcats came storming back and held off the Rangers 65-62 to advance to the MACJC Championship game.
Pearl River improved to 21-4 and advances to play Mississippi Delta (11-12) in the championship at 7 p.m. Thursday night. On the women's side, Northeast will play against Copiah-Lincoln at 5 p.m.
Northwest shot a stifling 63 percent in the first half (15 for 24), including connecting on 7 of 10 from 3-point range, and led 42-24 at the break. Pearl River shot 32 percent in the opening half.
Back-to-back 3s from Xavier Rimmer and a layup from Demondre Harvey gave Pearl River the first eight points of the second half and quickly pulled the game within 41-32 with 18:25 to play.
The Wildcats continued to pour it on and took advantage of three consecutive turnovers to start the half.
A 20-3 run over the ensuing 8:32 turned what was a 9-point Northwest lead into a 52-48 deficit.
After hitting almost every shot that went up in the first, Northwest couldn't buy a basket in the second half. The Rangers went nearly 6 minutes without scoring a point and missed nine consecutive shots until Domonique Harris' jumper at the 11:09-mark stopped the drought.
Northwest played catch up the rest of the way and got within a point on two separate occasions, but just couldn't find the big basket to put them back in front.
Trailing 65-62 with one final chance to tie the game and force overtime, Charles Eaton lost the ball on the way up attempting a 3-pointer and Frank Snow was able to come up with the game-clinching steal.
Northwest shot just 25 percent in the second half while Pearl River hit 52 percent in the period.
Rimmer led all scorers with 17 points for Pearl River – 14 of those coming in the second half – while Kaven Bernard and Deangelo Coleman added 14 points apiece.
Four of Northwest's five starters scored in double figures, led by Kenyatta Jones with 13, DeMarcus McVay with 12, Eaton with 11 and Harris with 10.
Northwest will have a week off before returning to the court March 6-9 at the Region 23 Tournament in Clinton. Game times and brackets will be released at the conclusion of the state tournament.
