Turnovers plagued Pine Bluff High School on Saturday as the Zebras dropped their second game of the King Cotton Holiday Classic.
Waxahachie, Texas, defeated Pine Bluff 63-50 in a losers’ bracket game at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
Pine Bluff (3-11) turned the ball over 23 times, including 15 in the first half. Although the Zebras shot 50% from the field, the turnovers limited them to 38 shot attempts.
Waxahachie (10-7) took better care of the ball, finishing with 12 turnovers. The Indians scored 21 points off Pine Bluff’s turnovers and attempted 19 more shots, though they made only four more than Pine Bluff.
Pine Bluff Coach Billy Dixon said turnovers have been an issue all season.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“We’re averaging 25, 28 turnovers a game,” Dixon said. “We’re not going to be successful as long as we continue to do that. With turnovers, you don’t get a chance to shoot the basketball. … You’re not going to win ballgames and be successful when you’re giving the ball away to the other team and not getting an opportunity to score the basketball.”
Other than the turnovers, the one noteworthy difference between the teams was 3-point shooting. Pine Bluff made one shot from beyond the arc, while Waxahachie made five.
The Zebras held leads of 5-3 and 7-5 in the first quarter despite making 1 of 7 shots from the field, but the Indians finished the frame on a 9-1 run.
Waxahachie went on to lead 33-22 at halftime. The Zebras started the second half well, forcing two Indian timeouts in the first 3:11 of the half. Pine Bluff senior Deriyon Graydon hit a pair of shots, followed by one by Christopher Hinton Jr. to briefly cut the deficit to 36-32.
The Indians answered on their next possession as Eddie Williams scored to start a 12-0 run which put the game away. Four Indians scored on the run.
A dunk from Graydon ended the run, but the Zebras never threatened the lead again.
Dixon said he was disappointed in the Zebras’ effort, which he said wasn’t as good as in Friday’s game.
“We didn’t have that same energy when we came out,” Dixon said. “We started the game slow, did not rebound as well. Last night, we outrebounded a team that we probably should not have outrebounded, and we did. That was based on just effort, the effort that’s put out and how hard that we work. Today, that did not happen.”
Waxahachie junior Michael Gatewood scored a game-high 19 points, with Williams right behind with 18.
Graydon led the Zebras with 15 points, followed by Braylon Morden with 13.
Pine Bluff will face Westminster Academy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) in its final King Cotton game Monday at 2:30 p.m., while Waxahachie will face Benton at 1 p.m.
Dixon said having a day between games should help the Zebras.
“We talked about the rest factor,” Dixon said. “The kids said they want to work (Sunday). I’ll get with the coaches. We’ll make that decision. Rest is more important right now for us than getting in film.”
Braylon Morden (0) of Pine Bluff High School shoots a jumpshot over Luckie Harbert of Waxahachie, Texas, in the fourth quarter of a King Cotton Holiday Classic game Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)