George County boys make history with Region 7-6A title

For the first time since 1988, the George County boys basketball team has won consecutive region championships.

The Rebels held off Ocean Springs 59-55 Friday night in the Region 7-6A title game as junior Cameron Hartfield and senior LaRaymond Spivery both had nice nights from the field for the Rebels. Hartfield led the way with 19 points, 15 in the first half, and Spivery pitched in 17.

George County earned a first-round bye in the playoffs with the win and will host a game on Feb. 25 in Lucedale.

George County (21-6) last won consecutive region championships when it won three straight from 1986-88.

“It’s a big thing for the country,” Spivery said. “It’s really an exciting thing to do. We left our legacy here, the seniors did.”

While George County’s main goal is getting back to the Class 6A state quarterfinals in Jackson, Renfroe knows his group made some history for the program.

“It’s big. The kids worked hard for it,” he said. “The guys coming back from last year, we really only had returning starter coming back.

“They were really hungry to run to get back and win back-to-back championships. I’m proud of them.”

Both teams came out hot from the field, combining for seven 3-pointers in the first quarter.

George County led 20-12 after one quarter and 7 second-quarter points from Hartfield helped the Rebels maintain a 33-24 lead headed into halftime.

“I gave him a pep talk, told him he’s got to step it up,” Spivery said. “He did that.”

A 3-pointer by Ocean Springs’ Jake Jones cut the George County lead to 42-36 with 5:20 remaining, but the Rebels responded with an 8-1 run to go up 50-37 with 3:10 left.

Junior guard Malcolm Magee led Ocean Springs with 16 points. He was joined in double figures by Jordan Brack and Jake Jones, who both had 13.

Ocean Springs will host a first-round playoff game on a date to be determined.

St. Martin boys 67, D’Iberville 51: The St. Martin boys had a bumpy run in region play, but they’ll still be playing when the playoffs begin thanks to a win Friday in the Region 7-6A third-place contest.

St. Martin will travel to Oak Grove in the first round of the playoffs on a date to be determined.

“The bottom line is we wanted to be in the state playoffs,” St. Martin coach Charlie Pavlus said. “Whoever won tonight, got a little momentum. Whoever we play is losing tonight. That means something. Not everybody handles losses well.”

Oak Grove lost 57-41 to Meridian Friday night in the 5-6A title game.

DaQuan Gaudin had 19 points and 19 rebounds to help the Yellow Jackets earn a road game in the first round of the playoffs. They are set to play the loser of Friday night’s Oak Grove-Meridian game.

Jariyon Wilkens again had a nice game for the Yellow Jackets with 15 points and Trez Kennedy pitched in 10.

Shamond Hoye led D’Iberville, which had its season come to a close, with 16 points and Kyle Winters had 13.

This story was originally published February 17, 2017 at 10:58 PM with the headline "George County boys make history with Region 7-6A title."