‘We had to fight.’ Harrison Central boys, girls sweep Region 8-6A titles
The Harrison Central boys and girls both clenched come-from-behind wins to claim Region 8-6A titles in the Kiln on Friday night.
The Red Rebels won their third of four games this season against rival Gulfport, and the Red Rebelettes overcame tournament host Hancock Lady Hawks.
Trailing the Admirals 35-30 going into the final quarter, the Red Rebels found a spark in sophomore shooting/point guard Demarius Coleman as they rallied for a 53-45 win, outscoring the Admirals 23-10 in the period.
Coleman got the Red Rebels going with a steal, a layup, a rebound and a putback about a minute later. He sank a 3-pointer with just under four minutes left in the contest to give the Red Rebels a 44-42 lead, a lead they would not surrender. He added two more layups to tally 11 points in the period.
“Demarius is only a sophomore, and he’s been playing since the ninth grade,” said Harrison Central coach Boo Hardy said. “He’s a gamer. He steps up. He has that tenacity. He’s one of the toughest players that I have coached, as far as mentally. He really doesn’t get rattled.
“I give a lot of credit to the defense. When we needed to make stops, we made big stops; when we needed to get a key rebound, we got the key rebound. We try to take one game at a time and play the best that we can play each time we step on the court.”
The Red Rebels (24-4) trailed Gulfport 11-6 at the end of the first quarter, but they responded in the second quarter with solid defense and some good looks at the basket to outscore Gulfport 18-10 in the period.
Gulfport (24-6) had their best defensive output in the third quarter as they held the Red Rebels to six points in the period and scored 14 points in the period.
“Free throws,” said Gulfport coach Owen Miller. “We probably missed 20 tonight; we missed seven front ends of one-and-ones. It’s just hard to win when you miss that many free throws. We left the game at the free throw line.
“So we’ve got to make those free throws in games like this. And they played hard. Harrison Central has got a good team and they’re athletic.”
Coleman led Harrison Central with 19 points. Reubon Kelly led Gulfport with 14 points.
Harrison Central girls 46, Hancock 41
The Lady Rebels won the battle of two very different halves by turning up the pressure on the defensive end against the Lady Hawks in the second half, capitalizing on turnovers and finding the high percentage shots.
The Lady Rebels outscored the Lady Hawks 27-13 in the second half, by turning up the pressure, moving from a zone to man-to-man defense.
“One thing I told them when we went in at halftime was that we had quit,” said Lady Rebels coach Nancy Ladner. “We were not playing aggressive defense. We were letting them just get the ball. They were dictating everything they wanted to do. I told them that we had to pick up our effort and our energy. We had to fight.
“We can’t worry about things getting called or not being called. They go both ways, sometimes for us, sometimes against. We’ve got to have grit, and that’s what we played with in the second half.”
The Lady Rebels trailed 28-19 at halftime as the Lady Hawks converted good outside looks, including four 3-pointers during the stretch.
De’Asia Booker led the Lady Rebels with 11 points followed by Lala Walker with 10 points. Madison Ladner led the Lady Hawks with 14 points and K.K. Randall finished with 12 points.
Other Friday scores
Region 5-6A
Boys
Consolation game: George County 90, Petal 25
Region 7-6A
Boys
Title game: Biloxi 56, St. Martin
Region 7-5A
Boys
Title game: Hattiesburg 82, Pearl River Central 52
Girls
Title game: Hattiesburg 37, Pearl River Central 13
Region 8-5A
Boys
Title game: Wayne County 49, Pascagoula 45
Girls
Title game: Wayne County 44, Gautier 31
Region 7-4A
Boys
Consolation: Purvis 48, Poplarville 45
Title: Stone Forrest County AHS 66, Stone High 62
Girls
Title: Greene County 58, Stone High 42
Region 8-4A
Boys
Title: Bay High 28, Pass Christian 26
Girls
Title: Moss Point 38, Pass Christian 30
Region 8-2A
Boys
Title: St. Patrick 45, North Forrest 39
This story was originally published February 14, 2020 at 11:23 PM.