By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

CARRIERE — Coming off a 10-day holiday break, the St. Martin boys split a pair of games over the weekend in the annual Pearl River Central Christmas Tournament.
The Yellow Jackets lost a thriller to eventual tourney champ Pearl River, La., on Friday afternoon 59-57 before bouncing back to thump Class 1A foe Sacred Heart out of Hattiesburg 72-44 in the consolation contest Saturday afternoon.

In the big win, SMHS point guard Jaxon Walker tallied a game-high 19 points and also had five assists and five steals to lead the way. R.J. Keys added 16 points, seven rebounds and eight assists to the winning cause, while Terrence Allen had nine points and Lleyton Wilson scored eight points for the Yellow Jackets.
On Friday, Walker had 17 points and he dished out eight assists while Wilson added 10 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
“In the first round against Pearl River, we didn’t defend very well and we gave up too many easy uncontested baskets.” St. Martin veteran head coach Charlie Pavlus said. “I thought coming off of 10 days in between games that our offense would suffer, however we scored 57 points and shot the ball well enough to win the game. In the end, Pearl River made a few more plays than us down the stretch and came away with the victory.”

The Yellow Jackets sit at 14-5 overall after the latest win.
“In the second round against Sacred Heart, everyone played well and all 10 guys played at least 15 minutes in the game and helped us secure the victory,” Pavlus added. “It’s always great when you can play everyone that is dressed out, especially during the holidays.”
St. Martin is off for another week until both the Yellow Jackets and their female counterparts head to Moss Point for dates with the Tigers and Lady Tigers on Saturday.
For the Yellow Jackets, the game marks their last non region game of the season. St. martin sits at 1-2 in Region 4-7A and will play seven straight league games to finish off the campaign after facing MPHS.