By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

The Picayune Maroon Tide has a new head basketball coach.

Run Bowen is returning to Pearl River County for his third stop as a head hoops coach. Bowen was approved as the new Maroon Tide head coach recently.

Bowen has been an assistant coach under veteran Biloxi head coach Seber Windham for the past three seasons. Before that, he served as the head boys coach at Poplarville High for four seasons from 2017-2021. He also was the boys head coach at Pearl River Central before that for a few seasons.

Bowen also served in similar roles at Vancleave, Ocean Springs, Long Beach and Perry Central over the past 15 years or so.

Bowen replaces Eric Vianney as the leader of the Maroon Tide, after Vianney left his alma mater to take the same post at D’Iberville High.

Vianney left Picayune after a successful six season run at the helm of the Maroon Tide. He heads to D’Iberville to replace Robin Skies, who left the Warrior program to take over at Pass Christian High School.

Vianney led Picayune to two straight trips to Jackson for the overall Class 5A state Final Four before just coming up short on a return trip to The Big House this past season.

The Maroon Tide are coming off of four straight 20 win seasons, and played for the 2023 state title falling to Hattiesburg. Picayune finished 23-9 last season.

The top spot with the Warriors came open when Sikes left to replace Buddy Kennedy at Pass Christian after five years at the helm of the D’Iberville.

Volleyball Championships

The Mississippi High School Activities Association recently announced that Mississippi College’s A.E. Wood Coliseum will be the host site for the MHSAA Volleyball State Championships on Thursday, Oct. 17 and Friday, Oct. 18.

The change of venue was made to move the games from Oxford where they had been contested at Ole Miss over the past several seasons.

Volleyball All-Stars

The Mississippi Association of Coaches annual All-Star Volleyball Game took place recently at Brandon High School and the North All-Stars swept the South All-Stars 3-0 (25-22, 26-24, 25-22).

The Most Valuable Player for the North was Jania Rose of Lake Cormorant while the South MVP was Gulfport’s Izzi Barnes.

Time to tap

And speaking of prep volleyball, that will once again be the first sport contested on the yearly athletic calendar as schools begin to convene soon.

Many volleyball squads in the “Southern Six” will tip off play the second week in August with regular season action.