The McComb Tigers weren’t able to put much pressure on the Long Beach Bearcats in the first half.
Outside shots weren’t falling and Daven Gooden was the lone Tiger converting on both ends of the floor.
The Tigers introduced their press in the second half and pushed their way to 44-33 win over Long Beach in the first round of the 4A playoffs on Tuesday night.
“They’re a patient team,” McComb head coach Hilton Harrell said. “We had to get them out of it and get them in an up and down game.
“We weren’t always in the right position, but we got them out of rhythm.”
The Tigers started the third quarter with a 13-1 run to take a 30-20 lead. The run was also helped by Tradarius Holloway down low. He put back two buckets and helped get the Bearcats to not extend as far out on defense to be able to help when Holloway touched the ball.
“The posts had to be tough the second half and that’s what he did,” Harrell said.
Holloway finished with 11 rebounds and seven points, while Rod Bland had a big putback dunk to finish the third quarter and pulled down five boards on the night.
The Tigers held at least a five-point lead the rest of the way, but Long Beach wasn’t able to hit their outside shots, which kept McComb from sweating as much as they could have down the stretch.
Gooden scored 18 to lead the Tigers.
He accounted for all eight McComb points in the second quarter. He pulled down eight rebounds, six coming in the first half. Ladarius White scored 11 for the Tigers.
Gooden was able to penetrate and get some layups for McComb.
“We needed to attack the gaps in the zone and he did a good job,” Harrell said.
The Tigers will play Moss Point at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at Wayne County.
Choctaw Central 72, S. Pike 57
The South Pike Eagles went on the road for their first-round matchup and weren’t able to come back home with a win, losing 72-57 to Choctaw Central.
The Warriors slowly built their lead never outscoring South Pike by more than four points in a quarter, but they led by eight at half and 11 heading to the fourth.
Donerrick Ellzey led South Pike with 18 points, while Devon Malone scored nine.
Devontee Cook and Trevosity Ellzey each had seven points.
