Pass Christian's playoff run stalls in 4A quarterfinals

JACKSON -- Buddy Kennedy's long and successful ride as the Pass Christian boys basketball coach came to a close Thursday afternoon at the Mississippi Coliseum.

Corinth came out hot to start the second half and held on for a 62-55 win in the Class 4A quarterfinals.

Senior reserve guard Armad Wicks hit all four of his 3-pointers in the third quarter as Corinth out-scored the Pirates 24-8 in the period to pull out to a 52-44 lead headed into the fourth.

Wicks averaged only 7 points a game entering Thursday's game, but poured in 26 against the Pirates on 10 of 15 shooting.

"We had several defensive breakdowns in the third quarter," Kennedy said. "As a team, I don't know what their shooting percentage was in the third quarter, but it had to be extraordinary.

"The third quarter definitely decided the game."

Kennedy, who took over as the Pass Christian coach in 1993, finishes his career with a record of 519-218 and one state championship in 2009.

There was plenty for Kennedy and his players to be proud of with the season coming to a close, but the season-ending loss was all they could think about Thursday.

"I'm just real disappointed for these guys," Kennedy said. "I'm not worried about me right now. I'm just disappointed for these guys. They put a lot into this year. They won district for the second consecutive season and made it to the state tournament. They have a lot to be proud of. They really wanted to win. It will take a while to sink in."

For the players, it was tough to watch Kennedy walk away from a program he built into a consistent winner.

"It's hard," Pass Christian senior guard Aaron Whavers said. "I still feel like he's got a lot left in him as far as coaching. I really wanted to get a ring for him this year, but we accomplished a lot."

Pass Christian set the tone for the game early as senior forward Jaylen Peters scored 11 points in the first 4:11 of the game and the Pirates led 18-12 after one quarter.

However, Peters picked up his third foul early in the second quarter.

JonDarius Warren of Corinth hit a basket with 4:03 left in the first half to cap a 14-4 run and give the Warriors a 26-22 lead.

Pass Christian responded with 14-2 a run of its own, capped by a 3-pointer by Maliq Leaks at the halftime buzzer to give the Pirates plenty of momentum headed into the break.

"All year long, we've had players come in off the bench and help us," Kennedy said. "At times, we've gotten better when we had players come off the bench. We got a lot of contributions from a lot of kids.

"That third quarter really hurt us."

Corinth held a commanding 60-49 lead with 3:26 remaining when the Warriors began to take as much time as they could off the clock.

Corinth had some missed free throws late and Pass Christian came up with some defensive stops on its way to cutting the lead to 60-55 with 1:23 remaining.

"We had one timeout we were hanging onto," Kennedy said. "We had three straight trips where we were down five. We put up shots and I was ready to call a timeout as soon as the ball went in, but the ball would bounce around and never go in."

The 16-point outburst by Wicks in the third quarter proved too much for Pass Christian to overcome.

"When a kid gets hot, you just let him go," Corinth coach Keith Greene said.

Peters finished with a team-high of 15 points and five rebounds for Pass Christian (26-7) and Leaks pitched in 13 points and a pair of assists.

Senior forward Antares Gwyn had a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds for Corinth (27-2).

Corinth will play Leake Central in the 4A semifinals at 5:30 p.m. on Monday at the Mississippi Coliseum.

This story was originally published March 3, 2016 at 7:29 PM with the headline "Pass Christian's playoff run stalls in 4A quarterfinals ."