SELFLESS, NOT SELFISH: PCS' MCCRARY PROVING TO BE A POSITIVE IMPACT FOR BOBCATS, SCHOOL

By Andrew Abadie

The Presbyterian Christian boys’ basketball team has experienced a memorable season after winning the regular-season conference title and securing a bye for the MAIS 4A D1 Conference Tournament. Behind the success of the team is sophomore shooting guard Sam McCrary.

McCrary was born with pulmonary stenosis, which is a condition that restricts blood flow to the heart and forced McCrary to have heart surgery at a young age. However, McCrary does not dwell on that and it has not stopped him from being a positive influence on his teammates, which is something PCS and coach Josh Dorman respects.

“He probably doesn't understand the impact that he is having,” Dorman said. “Whether it’s words of encouragement, his positive nature, his upbeat demeanor or his work ethic. All of those are things that everybody else on the team is seeing out of him, and we’re not seeing that 25 percent of the time or 50 percent of the time. You see that every time he walks out on to the floor.”

McCrary’s positivity is something many recognize about him and why so many people are drawn to his friendly nature. In a few instances, he’s left an impact on people in a greater scheme.

Junior forward Skylar Hill moved from Georgia two years ago, and had a difficult time adjusting until he met McCrary.

“He really helped me my freshman year playing the first year on varsity,” Hill said. “He’s really helped me keep my head up when times have been down and being a great teammate. He just made everything much easier than I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be super hard just moving here (and) starting to play basketball with people I had no idea who they were. But he just embraced me and he just said, ‘Let’s just go have fun together. It’s basketball. Just play and have fun.’ From right then I knew this guy was pretty great.”

In another instance, junior guard T.J. Hogan remembers a moment earlier in the season where McCrary’s encouragement and personality proved to be crucial for Hogan in PCS’ buzzer-beater win against Jackson Prep.

“Two point nine seconds at the end of the game,” Hogan said. “ It’s 36-36. Sam had been telling me the whole game, ‘We got this. Keep going hard. Keep pushing through.’ We ran a play. It didn’t work out, but I dished it to the wing. [Jakarie Love] hits a 3-pointer from 25 feet and we win the game by three. Had Sam never told me that I honestly don’t know if we would have won.”

JAN. 25, 2019- HUBCITYSPOKES.COM

PCS WINS REMATCH WITH JACKSON ACADEMY

By Camal Petro

HATTIESBURG – When Presbyterian Christian and Jackson Academy met on the hardwood earlier this month, PCS coach Josh Dorman said it was one of his team’s poorest efforts of the season.

On Friday night, however, his Bobcats got revenge in tune of a 43-32 conference win over the Raiders. PCS is now 16-7 overall and 5-1 in conference play.

The last game between these teams was so bad for PCS, Dorman memorized his team’s shooting percentages. In that meeting on Jan. 8, PCS shot 32 percent from the field, 15 percent from the 3-point line and 38 percent from the free throw line, according to Dorman.

“I think tonight, the biggest key was we came out with defensive intensity,” Dorman said. “It was going to be a personal thing for us. The guys did a great job.”

The Bobcats started the game with four quick points from 6-foot-6 center Jeremiah Montgomery to open up a 6-2 lead, but Jackson Academy battled back to take a 13-9 lead early in the second quarter. PCS, though, woke up and began a dominating 16-0 run that lasted until the early portion of the third quarter.

“I think we found another gear defensively,” Dorman said. “We got in the open floor a little bit, we got some easy baskets and our pressure turned them over a little bit. When you combine those things, we can be explosive at times.”

During the run, PCS had four players score points, but what was remarkable was each player had back-to-back baskets before another player score to help continue the run. First, it was Senior Jakari Love, then senior Markevion Harrell had a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer, Montgomery added a free throw and a put-back layup, and junior TJ Hogan scored six straight points to close out the first half.