Sports Writer

BRUNDIDGE – Senior guard Tyrone Boyd scored 20 points and grabbed three rebounds as the Pike County High School Bulldogs defeated the Elba High School Tigers 64-52 in a Class 3A Area 2 high school basketball game at Bulldog Gym Tuesday night.

With the win, the Bulldogs (6-12, 3-3 in area) clinched no worse than a No. 3 seed for the upcoming boys area tournament, which will be held next month on the Calhoun High School campus in Fort Deposit. The number eight ranked

Tigers (17-5, 4-0) claimed the area title with a win over the Bulldogs coupled by Elba’s loss to Luverne Friday night.

At the start of the game, both teams got off to a slow start as the Bulldogs didn’t score the first points of the contest until the 6:15 mark. However, the Bulldogs finally got rolling as they scored 12 points in the final six minutes of the period to take a 14-7 lead.

In the second quarter, Pike County’s defense really started to rattle Elba as the Bulldogs converted numerous turnovers into easy transition baskets to take a commanding 27-12 lead into intermission.

However, Boyd took over the game in the second half as he scored 18 points, including 10 in the third stanza. Despite turning the ball over several times in the period, the Bulldogs took a 46-30 lead into the final quarter. At one point in the third quarter, Pike County led by as much as 19 points (42-23).

In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs overcame a long field goal scoring drought early

on as they hit several free throws down the stretch to put the game away. The Tigers (8-7, 2-3) cut the lead the lead to nine points late the game, but it was too late as the Bulldogs completed a successful 2-1 homestand.

Other individual statistics included Michael Walker scoring 13 points, while pulling down a team high seven rebounds. Nick Walker had 11 points and three rebounds, while Shermondre Jackson finished with 10 points in the winning effort.

John Mitchell led the Tigers with 18 points and six rebounds, while Marcus Henderson was the only other Elba player in double figures scoring 17 points.

Elba (girls) 58 Pike County 35

Roshonda McKinnon scored 16 points to lead a balanced attack as the Elba High School Lady Tigers crushed the Pike County High School Lady Bulldogs 58-35 Tuesday night.

With the loss, the Lady Bulldogs (5-12, 3-3) were eliminated from the regular season area title race as any hopes of a three-way tie and hosting the area tournament got dashed.

After leading by only two points following the opening eight minutes, the Lady Tigers were able to pound the ball inside against the smaller Lady Bulldogs as they opened up a eight point lead (26-18) at the half.

Early in the third quarter after calling a timeout while leading by seven points (29-22), the Lady Tigers (16-3, 4-1) went on a 11-3 run to take a 40-25 advantage going into the final period of action.

In the fourth quarter, PCHS cut the lead to 12 points but couldn’t get any closer as Elba used its superior height and size to put the game away scoring the final 11 points of the contest.

Yonna Procter finished the game with 11 points while Yonnie Bludsworth had 10 points for the Lady Tigers, who will host Calhoun Friday night for the regular season area title.

Wennica Foster led all scorers for PCHS with 18 points while Deacquelyn Rodgers and Stephanie Caffie each had six points in a losing cause.

The Bulldogs return to action this Saturday night when they travel to Ozark to face the Carroll High School Eagles, who faces CHHS in Troy Friday night. Tipoff for the PCHS-Carroll game is set for 5 p.m.