By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

PERKINSTON — Terry denied Picayune a third straight trip to Jackson Friday night.
The Bulldogs slipped past the Maroon Tide 49-47 in the Class 6A Elite Eight here at Dantzler Arena on the campus of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Terry moves on to the overall Class 6A state tournament beginning Wednesday night at The Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.
The Maroon Tide, who played for the Class 5A state title last year and fell to Hattiesburg 55-50, finish the year at a solid 23-9 mark with the loss in the quarterfinal round.
Trailing 14-8 after the first quarter, the Maroon Tide began to make their move as the second stanza unfolded.
Picayune still trailed by five, at 18-13, with 3:38 to play in the period but the Maroon Tide closed the first half with a 10-2 run to take a 23-20 lead into halftime.

Darrell Smith got that key stretch started with an inside move to get a basket, and then Sanchez Goss added a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to one point at 18-17. Jordan Hathorne’s 3-pointer put Picayune in the lead at 20-17 with 1:18 to play, and then Smith drained a trey of his own to make it 23-17.
The Bulldogs bounced back a bit with a 3-pointer to end the first half, and then Terry slowly crawled and crashed its way back into a tie with the Maroon Tide to end the third frame tied at 36-36.
The game was still knotted up at 41-41 midway through the fourth quarter, when the Bulldogs began to make their final move with a 6-1 spurt to make it 47-42.
Picayune’s Goss nailed a 3-pointer to make it 47-45 with 1:08 to play. But Terry’s Kamarion Merriweather answered with a putback to make it 49-45 and Picayune’s Brunson Stockstill countered with a basket inside to make it 49-47 with: 26 seconds to go.

Terry’s Merriweather partially blocked a final 3-point try by Goss to win it with three seconds left.
Goss paced Picayune with a game-high 17 points including five 3-pointers, while Smith finished with eight points.
Merriweather tallied 13 points to lead the Bulldogs.

Terry Will face Olive Branch in the overall Class 6A semifinals at 7 p.m., Wednesday in the Big House after Olive Branch beat Vicksburg 71-56 in the Class 6A North State Quarterfinal round in Itta Bena at Mississippi Valley State University Thursday night.
Ridgeland will face the Pascagoula-West Harrison winner at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., in the other semifinal game after Ridgeland beat Center Hill 64-50 Thursday night as well.