Keevon Oney will remember final 3 of Gulfport-Biloxi thriller forever
Keevon Oney added another signature moment to the Biloxi-Gulfport basketball rivalry Tuesday night.
Oney hit a 28-foot 3-pointer with two seconds left to propel Gulfport to a come-from-behind 50-49 victory over Biloxi at the Biloxi Sports Arena in the semifinals of the Region 8-6A basketball tournament.
As a result, Gulfport will face Harrison Central for the boys region title Friday at 8:30 p.m. while Biloxi faces Hancock for third place at 5:30 p.m.
Harrison Central scored 22 unanswered points to open the third quarter and rolled past Hancock 76-49 in the other boys semifinal.
Harrison Central will meet Biloxi for the 8-6A girls region title Friday after the Red Rebelettes swamped Hancock 59-21 while Biloxi beat Gulfport 56-33. That title game will be played at 7 p.m. with the consolation girls game between Gulfport and Hancock at 4 p.m.
“It was good luck,” Oney said. “I just shot it. We picked up our defense in the second half.”
Gulfport (18-10) trailed Biloxi (21-6) by 13 – 39-26 – to open the fourth quarter. The Admirals cut the lead to 48-47 with 49.7 seconds left on Juan Irias’ two free throws. Biloxi’s Ahmed Arrington pushed the lead to 49-47 with seven seconds left when he converted one of two free throws.
Then Gulfport pushed it down the court and Oney let it fly after clearing half court. Oney finished with 16 points while Irias hit 16 points, including four 3-pointers.
“I don’t think he knew we had seven seconds left on the clock, which is why he shot,” Gulfport coach Owen Miller said. “The coaches asked me if I wanted to take a time out but I wanted to let Keevon go make a play. He threw it up there and it went in. They were stunned like I was.
“He’ll remember that for the rest of his life. ... We went small (on defense). We wanted to get the game to go faster and we got a few turnovers and some easy baskets.”
Biloxi’s Fred Ramsey-Thompson had eight points but was limited by foul trouble the entire evening. Austin Cooley, DQ Proby and Mike Burbridge each had nine points for the Indians.
Anthony Barnett had 19 points, Dayquan Perkins 15 and Josh Green 15 as top-seeded Harrison Central (20-7) pulled away from the rugged Hawks team. Hancock rallied to tie the game 34-all at halftime. But the Red Rebels scored the first 22 points of the third quarter to set the tone for the win.
Cole Bosarge led Hancock with 12 points — all on four 3-pointers — and Anthony Jones added 11.
“You have to give Hancock all the credit in the world,“ HCHS coach Boo Hardy said. “They played well the first half. We made a few minor adjustments at halftime and went from there.
“The first half I thought our defensive intensity was low. We picked it up in the second half and made a few steals and got some easy baskets, and went from there.”
Biloxi’s Gabby Fantroy hit five 3-pointers en route to 17 points as the Lady Indians (21-8) stunned Gulfport (15-13). Shyla McGee added 10 points as Biloxi led 32-14 at halftime. Amyjah Hardnett led Gulfport with 13 points.
Top-seeded Harrison Central (20-3) bolted to a 17-0 lead over Hancock for their semifinal win.
Chyna Allen had 16 points and DeAsia McInnis 11 in the paint for the Red Rebelettes. Amanda Green paced Hancock with 10.
This story was originally published February 14, 2017 at 11:04 PM with the headline "Keevon Oney will remember final 3 of Gulfport-Biloxi thriller forever."