Pirates dominate Wildcats

GOSNELL-- The Gosnell Pirates never trailed on Tuesday night to the Trumann Wildcats, winning 69-49.

The Pirates jumped out to a 23- 4 lead entering the second quarter. However, the Wildcats would come prowling back to cut the lead to 14. Junior guard Brandon Partee passed the ball to senior guard Marquel McKinney, who hammered the ball down to go up, 30-12, with 3:55 left in the first half. The Wildcats would then hit a few more shots to bring the score, 32-24, entering halftime.

The Wildcats forced a Pirate turnover and would connect on a fast break layup to trail by eight points with 2:14 left in the third. McKinney and sophomore guard CaDarius Young would then connect on back-to-back threes pulling the Pirates ahead, 45-33. The Pirates would then take a 45-36 lead into the final quarter of play.

Partee hit a three later in the fourth quarter to push the Pirates lead back up to 10 points. On the next Wildcat possession, senior forward Rodale Jones would get a steal and go coast-to-coast for a layup bringing the Pirates to a 52-40 lead over the Wildcats midway through the fourth. Jones would then pass ahead to senior center Tramaine Anderson for a layup putting the Pirates up by 14 points. The Pirates would hit free throws down the stretch and get put back layups to lead, 64-46, with 1:30 to go in the game. Anderson would then assist to fellow senior Guy Bennett for a layup and get a layup on his own the following possession to lead, 68-49, with under a minute to go. Then, Tabari Herron, senior guard, blocked a Wildcat three and would get intentionally fouled on the fast break layup. He would hit one of two to end the ball game with a final score of, 69-49.

The leading scorer for the Pirates in the win was Partee with a game-high 17 points. Also contributing for the Pirates was Jones with 12 points, Anderson with 11 points, Trajan Donnerson with 10 points and McKinney with nine points.

Kelon Booker led the Wildcats in scoring with 13 points.

The Pirates will travel to Lake City on Friday night to play Riverside.