Brady Willis of PCA grabs the arm of Tallulah’s Audrey Bess Hopkins as they go for a loose ball. (The Vicksburg Post/PAT SHANNAHAN)

[01/22/01] The Porters Chapel Academy Eagles shot themselves in the foot Friday night with bad shots and turnovers, but it was Tallulah Academy’s Derek Busby who shot them out of the game.

Busby scored 14 of his team-high 22 points in the second quarter to help repel a PCA charge and send the Trojans (13-6, 4-2 Conference 7-A) on their way to a 69-51 win.

“He was pretty much our main team there for a while,” Tallulah coach Kiley King said. “We spread it out and let him take it man-to-man, and he was able to get some layups.”

Tallulah jumped out to a 23-10 lead late in the first quarter, but PCA’s Trey White sparked an Eagle run that got his team back in it.

White, who finished with 19 points, five rebounds and seven assists, hit two of three free throws after he was fouled on a half-court buzzer-beater attempt to end the first quarter. He then hit a pair of treys early in the second and assisted on another basket by Joseph Ivey as PCA (2-18, 1-4) cut the lead to five points, 29-24, with about five minutes left in the half.

But that was as close as the Eagles got. Busby knifed through the PCA defense for several easy layups, mixed in a 3-pointer, a free throw and an assist, then capped a 14-4 Tallulah run with another 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the half to give the Trojans a 43-28 lead.

“He’s a heck of a ballplayer. He’s probably the reason we couldn’t get up a comeback,” PCA coach Roger Browning said of Busby. “We made several attempts at a comeback, and every time we made a comeback, he would answer.”

The Eagles shot 48 percent in the second half kept the deficit around 15 points most of the way, but turned the ball over 16 times in the half and were never able to mount a serious run.

“We just didn’t play well,” Browning said. “I don’t think it was shooting ourselves out of the game as much as it was not running the offense in general.”

Ivey led all scorers with 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds for PCA. Jonathan Williams netted 15 points in the win.

(G) PCA 80, Tallulah 35

If his coaching career doesn’t work out, PCA’s Mitchell Willis may have a second career as a motivational speaker.

After a sluggish start that saw the Lady Eagles trailing 6-5 with 2:31 left in the first quarter, Willis called a timeout to settle his squad down. PCA proceeded to outscore the Lady Trojans 35-9 over the last 10 1/2 minutes of the first half for a 40-15 lead. The Lady Eagles (14-7, 4-0) cruised the rest of the way.

“Overall, they came back and did what they had to do. They started blocking out and playing defense, and we took it to them,” Willis said.

E.J. Willis, wearing No. 14 instead of her usual No. 4 as a tribute to injured sister K.K., led all scorers with 25 points and also hauled in 10 rebounds and dished five assists for PCA.

Brady Willis added 16 points and seven assists, Kayla Barnette had nine points and seven rebounds, Kala White scored 11 points and Jessica Lord netted 10 for the Lady Eagles.

Jaclyn Smith led Tallulah (4-15, 0-6) with 11 points, while Kate McGouin scored 10 and Staci Zeigler grabbed eight rebounds.