By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director
RAYMOND — An historic season on the hardwood for the Resurrection boys’ basketball team added yet another milestone Wednesday night.
The Eagles stormed into Raymond High here and shut down powerful Piney Woods in impressive fashion 49-34 in the Class 1A South State Quarterfinal round.
The win, which basically came in the back yard of the Tornadoes, pushes RCS to a solid 24-4 overall, but, more importantly, punches the ticket for the Eagles to the Class 1A overall Final Four as they will return to this area early next week to the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.

It marked just the second loss of the season for Piney Woods, and first to Mississippi competition.
“Our defense won the game for us,” second-year RCS head coach David Pilger said. “We knew we had to stop their transition offense to win. So we had to sacrifice on offense to make sure we had our 6-foot-9 defensive Simeon Ballard as our first one back on defense.”
In addition to the junior Ballard, though, Pilger had yet another imposing figure on the offensive side in senior Tyrese Ricardo that got things rolling offensively for the Eagles as he put up six quick points in the first frame to get the Eagles off to a slight 15-14 at the end of that opening period.
It was in the second stanza, however, when RCS took complete control of the contest.
The Eagles tightened up on defense, holding Piney Woods to just four points, and RCS continued its steady offensive output as Ricardo added five more points and both he and Denzel Eaton dropped in a 3-pointer apiece as the Eagles went on a 17-2 run at one point to take a commanding 32-18 lead into halftime.

The Tornadoes got within seven points with six minutes left in the game. But Pilger called a time out, and RCS responded as senior guard Gian Vera sliced through the lane and dished off to Ballard for a bunny under the basket and Ricardo followed up a few trips later with a putback to return the lead to double digits and seal the deal.
The 6-foot-6 Ricardo posted a double-double to lead RCS with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Nesbitt also had 13 points, five assists and five steals. Ballard chipped in eight points and 11 rebounds, and Eaton also had eight points in the win.

The Tornadoes end the season at 21-2. Their only other loss of the season came to Lausanne Collegiate of Memphis, Tenn., in early December.
Resurrection faces Calhon City Monday night at 7:30 p.m., at “The Big House”.