It was a tale of two halves Thursday night between the PCS Lady Bobcats and the Pelahatchie Lady Chiefs. In the first, both teams score a combined 40 points as PCS took a 21-19 lead into halftime. In the second, a total of 7 points were scored.
Despite going scoreless the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter, PCS hung on to win, 25-22, in what turned out to be a defensive showcase.
“Defensively, we were fabulous,” Lady Bobcat head coach Matthew Lofton said. “One thing we talk about is that your defense is gonna win the game, while your offense will determine the score you win the game by.”
“Was it a difficult game offensively? Yes. But you have to give Pelahatchie a ton of credit.”
Kailee Swindle’s two made free throws in the final minute resulted in PCS’ lone two points of the fourth quarter and helped seal the win. Despite playing in a cold stretch much of the second half, Swindle treated the trip to the charity stripe like any other opportunity.
“I just zoned everybody out and acted like it was practice,” Swindle said. “Not like it’s in the game with 16 seconds left.”
“For her to be on the line in that moment, it was very exciting,” Lofton added. “She deserved something amazing to happen for her.”
Like Swindle, Gabby Gallup also played big for PCS, finishing with a team-high 14 points in helping the Lady Bobcats improve to 11-5 on the season.
PCS Bobcats 52, Pelahatchie 43
Led by Oto Duran’s 23 points, PCS bounced back from a tough loss to Pearl River Central the night before and picked up its 8th win of the season.
The Bobcats benefited from a quick start, jumping out to a 12-0 lead in the first four minutes of Thursday’s game.
“It always helps to get out to a 12-0 start,” PCS head coach Josh Dorman said. “Offensively, things clicked there for a minute. We were fortunate to do that and control the game from there.”
Pelahatchie battled back in the second half as the Chiefs cut the Bobcat lead to four points entering the fourth quarter. But Dorman’s Bobcats were up to the challenge in the final period.
“Down the stretch, Josh Gonsalves hit some big free throws,” Dorman said. “And we got some big stops and rebounds. Our post players were dominant in this game.”
That dominance starts and ends with Duran, who caught the eye of Pelahatchie head coach Rod Taylor pretty early.
“He [Taylor] came off the floor and said, ‘Man, you have a beast on the floor’,” Dorman said. “When he [Duran] does what he did tonight, he really controls the paint.”
Alex Essary added 9 points for the Bobcats, who improved to 7-6 with the win.
