Pierce County opens against top-ranked Josey of Augusta
REIDSVILLE — Pierce County’s Lady Bears will play at least one more game after being selected for the Class AA tournament field of 32.
The Lady Bears (5-19) were one of 24 at-large teams selected by the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) using its power rankings. PCHS will enter as the 31st seed.
Pierce County’s first round opponent is top-ranked Josey (23-2) of Augusta, who is the second seed behind Murray County (26-1), ranked third in the last Top 10 poll.
The Lady Bears are one of four Region 3 teams in the tournament field. Region champion Tattnall County (19-5) is seeded fourth and opens with region foe Cook (9-14), seeded 29th. Region runnerup Appling County (18-8), seeded 11th, will host 22nd-seed Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe (11-16).
PCHS lost twice in the region tournament falling 40-18 to Tattnall County Tuesday, February 12 in the semifinals. The 18 points marked the fewest for PCHS in the series dating back to 201213.
The Lady Warriors, the eventual tournament champion after slipping past second-seed Appling County, have won four straight in the matchup after taking all three games this season to open up a 287 series lead. Tattnall County won 54-23 January 3 at home and 44-33 January 31 in Bearville.
Pierce County fell Friday, February 14 in the consolation matchup with Cook 42-34. The two teams split during the regular season with each winning at home.
The Lady Hornets recorded a 36-31 victory January 7 in Adel with PCHS winning 41-39 February 7 in Bearville.
Semifinals No. 9 Tattnall County................40 Lady Bears ................................18 Tattnall County limited the Lady Bears eight points through three quarters building a 30-point lead en route to the victory.
The Lady Warriors built a double-digit lead by the end of the first period opening up a 16-4 advantage. A 14-2 run in the second stanza extended Tattnall County’s margin to 30-6 at intermission.
Pierce County’s struggles continued during the third period as the Lady Warriors limited PCHS to two points in stretching the margin to 38-8. The Lady Bears outpointed the host school 10-2 during the “mercy rule” final period.
Isabella Marx paced PCHS with eight points. Claire Murray and Sahara Minott contributed four points apiece. Madi McGatha chipped in two points.
Tattnall County’s Rihanna Bess and Jaylin Kennedy shared game-high scoring honors with nine points apiece. Brayla Blount added eight points.
Consolation Cook ..........................................42 Lady Bears.................................34 Cook overcame a first quarter deficit outscoring the Lady Bears in each of the final three periods for the win.
PCHS put together one of its best first quarter scoring output in grabbing a 12-8 lead through eight minutes. The rim was unkind in the second stanza for the Lady Bears, who were outscored 6-2 by Cook in forging a 14-all tie at intermission.
The Lady Hornets surpassed their firsthalf point total during the third period outscoring PCHS 16-11 to take a 30-25 advantage. Cook outpointed the Lady Bears 12-9 in the final quarter.
Murray paced Pierce County with 15 points. Drew was net with nine points. Marx (trey) and McGatha (trey) each bagged five points. Hutcheson chipped in two points.
Cook’s Faith Morrison scored 13 of her game-high 17 points in the second half. She converted 8-of-16 free throws topping PCHS’s 4-of-11 game total. Jordon Pitts netted 10 of her 14 points over the last 16 minutes.
