Bulldogs nail Piney Woods by 51

PERKINSTON — A stifling first-half defensive performance by Mississippi Gulf Coast paved the way for an easy 113-62 win over Piney Woods Prep on Friday night at the Weathers-Wentzell Center.

The Bulldogs held the Tornadoes, who missed all 16 attempts from the 3-point line to 20.5 percent from the floor on the way to a 58-19 bulge.

"I would say we did some good things," Gulf Coast coach Tim Ryan said. "We saw some weaknesses tonight, too. It's hard when you're up by that many. The second half we gave up a little bit more than I would have liked, but we still held them to 43 percent from the field then."

Gulf Coast improved to 2-0 on the young season. JaVon Anderson (So., Columbia S.C./Ridge View) had a double-double, leading the team with 27 points and 10 rebounds. He shot 11-for-15 from the field and made 3-of-6 from behind the arc.

Javeon Gordon (Fr., Mount Olive/Mount Olive) had 24 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Darius Dawson (So., Sumter S.C./West Florence) had 15 points, Jabarie Robinson (Fr., Raymond/Raymond) added 14 and Anthony Robinson had 10.

Donovan Sanders (So., Walls/Lake Cormorant) dished out 10 assists and just missed a double-double of his own with eight points.

"One of the things I liked is we shot the ball even better in the second half," Ryan said. "Those are the kinds of things I like. We really shared the ball with 36 assists."

Gulf Coast shot nearly 63 percent from the field and made 12-of-24 from the 3-point line.

The opposition gets significantly more difficult going forward. The Bulldogs travel to Niceville on Sunday to play No. 1 Northwest Florida State. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. They'll play at LSU-Eunice and at Jones next week before returning to Perk on Nov. 14 to host archrival Pearl River.

"I told them these were two warmup games for us," Ryan said. "Now we're to have a really tough four or five games. We're really hoping that makes us better."

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