HATTIESBURG – Petal coach Todd Kimble called Friday night the best performance his team has played this season, and it’s easy to see why.
The Petal Panthers blew out the Oak Grove Warriors 73-36 at OGHS, sweeping the season series.
“That’s one thing we’ve always done. We’ll play three quarters or we’ll play two quarters, but tonight we played four,” Kimble said. “That was about as solid of a job on defensive end of the floor that I’ve had from a team in a long time.”
The Petal win comes a week after the two teams played a 1-point, nail-biter, too.
“Definitely the blowout,” Petal senior Mykah Brown said when asked which game would he rather play in. “It’s way more fun.”
Led by Brown’s effort, the Panthers turned in a tenacious performance on defense. They forced steal after steal, made Oak Grove take contested shots and turned their defense into points throughout the contest. Sophomores Caleb McGill and Treylan Smith provided game highlights with fast-break dunks, too.
“Every dunk gets me excited. It gets me riled up,” Smith said.
After Petal entered halftime with a 27-17 lead, it came back out on the court and outscored Oak Grove 30-5 to put the game out of reach with eight minutes to play in the game. The Panthers even ended the third quarter on a 16-0 run, which they pushed to a 21-0 run during the first minute of the fourth.
By that time, the Panthers had built a 62-22 lead and was in complete control of every aspect of the game.
“I said, ‘Forget what the score is. We have to win the third quarter then win the fourth quarter,’” Kimble recalled from his halftime speech. “We just try to do it eight minutes at a time.”
Smith scored 12 of his game-high 26 points during the massive third quarter, which included two of his four dunks in the contest. The performance by Smith gives him 55 points against Oak Grove through the two games in the past week, after he scored 29 in the first game.
Smith was one of three players in double figures for Petal, too. Brown scored 11 points and McGill poured in 14 to help pace the offense.
“They were incredible,” Kimble said. “Mykah Brown’s leadership on the court was the difference for us tonight than the last game we played. He did a great job. He’s learning how to be a point guard, and he’s starting to get the mental part of it.”
It’s almost guaranteed Petal and Oak Grove will square off in the region tournament at Oak Grove next month, and Kimble wants his team to know it’s tough to beat a good team three times in one season. Brown, however, sees it differently.
“This put a little fear in their heart,” Brown said. “They know we’re coming now. This ain’t easy.”
Petal (11-2, 2-1 in Region 5-6A) is set to host non-region foe West Jones Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., and Oak Grove (10-10, 1-3) will take on crosstown rival Hattiesburg Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in a non-region game.
Oak Grove girls 52, Petal 24: The Lady Warriors overcame a slow start in the first quarter to outscore Petal 44-13 during the final third quarters to beat their rival 52-24. The Lady Panthers built an early 11-8 lead after the first, only to see Oak Grove go on a monster run in the second quarter.
A 3-pointer from Petal senior Jada Arrington, a driving layup by junior Myla Cox and a pair of free throws from senior Taityana Pittman gave the Lady Panthers the early 7-2 lead, but thanks to juniors Alesha Temple and Jazmin Grayson, Oak Grove scored six of the final 10 points of the quarter to pull close to Petal.
“It’s just a little shakiness, I guess,” Swindle said of the team’s slow start. “I have some players coming in playing in spots that maybe they’re not used to. I don’t really know. We’re trying to look for that answer.”
In the second quarter, the Lady Warriors closed out the half with a 13-0 run to take a 23-13, and it all started with Temple’s play down low. When Cox, who was Petal’s presence in the paint, subbed out for the first time in the game, Temple scored three straight baskets to push Oak Grove’s lead to 21-13.
“We’ve been working on getting better angles to get Alesha the ball because we knew we had an advantage in there,” Swindle said. “She caught it and finished, and made a big run with her. It turned the game.”
After the Lady Warriors made it 23-13, which was the score at halftime, Temple had one of her three blocks with 30 seconds left to prevent Petal from chipping into the lead.
Temple finished the night with game-highs of 18 points and 13 rebounds.
From there, Oak Grove outscored Petal 29-11 in the second half to cruise to victory.
“We just knew we could score,” Swindle said. “We didn’t have a very good game the first time offensively. We couldn’t catch, we couldn’t pass, but I knew we could score. Was I surprised (about the big second half)? No, but we finally put it together.”
The Lady Warriors will play Hattiesburg Tuesday at 6 p.m., and the Lady Panthers will take the court against West Jones Tuesday at 6 p.m., as well.
