By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

CARRIERE — The Pearl River Central boys got off to a good start in Region 3-6A play.

But, since winning their second game in league play with an exciting 37-36 win over Jackson Jim Hill last month, the Blue Devils have fallen on some hard times since the calendar flipped to a new year.

Pearl River Central dropped its third straight region game Friday night in Hattiesburg to the Tigers 74-37. The loss pushes PRC further down in the region race at 1-4, while home-standing Hattiesburg moved to 2-3 in league play.

Pearl River Central sits at 7-9 overall.

The loss in the Hub City concluded a rough two game in three day road trip to the Pine Belt area, as the Blue Devils fell to West Jones in Soso on Tuesday night 51-44. That win was the first region win of the season for the Mustangs, as they sit at 1-4 also currently and knotted up with PRC at the bottom of the league standings after the completion of the first half of the region schedule.

The win was the second straight for West Jones, and its second consecutive over “Southern Six” competition, after the Mustangs knocked off home-standing Pascagoula 68-52 on Saturday in the final game of the annual “Panther Classic” at Pascagoula High School.

The loss to West Jones and Hattiesburg for PRC came on the heels of a 45-39 loss to Jackson Forrest Hill in the first region game of the new year. An the road doesn’t get any easier for PRC as they face league-leading Terry Tuesday night. The Bulldogs sit an unbeaten 5-0 in the region race.

Entering that game against Forrest Hill, the Blue Devils were coming off a second place finish in their own annual “Pearl River Central Christmas Tournament” a few days after Christmas.

The home team beat Presbyterian Christian to open the event before losing to Pearl River, La., in the tourney finals.

The Blue Devils showed that they have a chance to make some noise down the stretch in a performance against Stone earlier in the season in a 43-37 win

In addition to a solid defensive effort, Konnor Cazenave led PRC with 16 points, and John Feaster Jr. added nine. Dawson Kennedy grabbed ten rebounds, and Roman Mitchell had six boards.

As the month comes to a close in a few weeks, the Blue Devils are set to host the Region 3-6A Tournament in early February.