PEARL — In a game filled with missed opportunities, Pearl High School did just enough to nab a win.

Behind a second-half surge, the Pirates got past Southeast Lauderdale High School 63-50 in the Pearl Christmas Classic Friday night.

“I feel like the difference was that we had to bounce back from playing a team yesterday (Jackson Prep) that was very disciplined, and tonight Southeast Lauderdale was more athletic than us,” Pearl head coach Don Moore said “Southeast Lauderdale made us play faster, and we looked sloppy in the first half. (In the) second half, we stepped up offensively, and started to attack the gaps.”

Up 25-20 at halftime, Pearl went on 10-0 run midway through the third quarter to extend its lead to 43-28. The Pirates were able to end the quarter leading 43-32.

The duo of Pearl’s Devin Carter and Matt Owens gave the Tigers all they could handle, as the two players ended the evening with 19 points apiece to lead the Pirates (10-6) in scoring.

“Those are two leading scorers, and we lean a lot on them,” Moore said. “We needed a spark heading into division play, and winning two games in our tournament will help a lot.”

Davion Escoffery added 10 points for the Pirates.

Thomas Grayson had a game-high 20 points for Southeast Lauderdale, and Malik Wright tallied 16 points for the Tigers (4-6).

All of Southeast Lauderdale’s loses have been to 5A and 6A schools so far this season.

“Pearl did a good job defending us, and (it was) one of those nights (when) our shots wouldn’t fall,” Southeast Lauderdale head coach Centel Truman said following the game. “I set the schedule up to play bigger schools so our kids can get mentally tougher and get ready for the gauntlet that is 3A.”