The Pillow Academy Mustangs couldn’t keep up with top-ranked Madison-Ridgeland Academy as their 12-game winning streak came to a halt.
The Mustangs, ranked No. 2 in the statewide academy AAA poll, fell 81-68 to MRA Friday night at Pillow in the regular-season finale for both teams. Next up for PA and MRA is this week’s State AAA Division I Tournament at MRA.
As the top seed from the North, the Mustangs (20-5) get a first-round bye and will play at 6 p.m. Friday in the semifinals against the winner of the Starkville-Jackson Prep contest. If the Mustangs win, they will likely get a rematch with MRA, the top seed from the South, in the finals.
The Patriots used a strong-second half performance to hold off the Mustangs Friday night.
MRA led 37-32 at the half and 46-57 at the end of three quarters of play.
The closest the Mustangs got in the fourth came with 21/2 minutes left after a 3-pointer from Pate Shackelford cut MRA’s lead to 69-61. It was the third straight trey for the senior guard, but Patriot center Ryan Goolsby answered with a 3-point play to thwart PA’s momentum.
Shackelford finished with a game-high 31 points.
PA’s Jacob Land added nine, followed by Matt Taylor with eight.
Goolsby paced MRA with 29 points, and Andrew Howell was next with 19.
In the girls’ game, Pillow won 50-39 to improve to 26-2 and claim its 13th straight win.
The No. 2-ranked Lady Mustangs are the top seed from the North in this week’s State AAA Division I Tournament at MRA. After a first-round bye, they will play at 1 p.m. Friday in the semifinals of the six-team tournament against the winner of the Jackson Academy-Parklane contest.
PA led MRA 9-6 at the end of the first period and trailed 21-16 at the half.
The Lady Mustangs, however, dominated the third period, outscoring MRA 24-4 to take control of the game.
Reynolds Whites paced the Lady Mustangs on the offensive end with 13 points, while Carolyn Wellborn added 12.
Ellen Hull was next with 11, followed by Stella Malouf with eight.
