4 Coast teams are left and we’ll have a Gulfport-Biloxi classic at the Coast Coliseum
There will be four Coast boys basketball teams playing in the quarterfinals of the MHSAA state tournament this week, including a Biloxi-Gulfport classic that should draw a raucous crowd to the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Gulfport stunned Meridian 68-54 on the road Saturday night and Biloxi handled its business with a 60-49 victory over Northwest Rankin.
The arch rivals will play at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday in a game that will determine who reaches the Class 6A semifinals on March 4 at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.
The winner of Biloxi-Gulfport will take on the victor of Petal-Harrison Central after the Red Rebels held on for a 71-68 victory over Oak Grove in Lyman. The Petal-Harrison Central game will tip off at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Coast Coliseum.
In Class 2A, St. Patrick rallied in the final moments to pull out a 65-60 victory over Bay Springs. The Fighting Irish will play Philadelphis at 8:30 p.m. on Friday at Pearl River Community College.
St. Patrick 65, Bay Springs 60
The game appeared to be gradually slipping away from the Fighting Irish (22-8), but they responded with a 21-8 run over the final 6:30 to pull out a hard-fought contest and advance to the Class 2A quarterfinals.
After a basket by Adonnius Hill gave Bay Springs a 59-54 lead with 1:18 remaining, St. Patrick coach Keith Robinson drew up a play in a timeout that proved to be exactly what the Irish needed.
Sophomore guard Isaiah Jefferson wasn’t the first option as the Irish moved the ball down the court, but his 3-pointer with 1:09 remaining lit up the gym at St. Patrick to give the Irish the momentum they needed to pull off the win.
“I told them if they draw the defense and don’t get to the rim, look to (Jefferson) in the corner because he’s done that all year long,” Robinson said. “He can make that key shot. He had missed a couple of easy ones on rebounds, but he was in the right place at the right time.”
Jefferson also gave the Irish their first lead since early in the third quarter when an inbound pass by Bay Springs went awry and landed in his hands near the basket, setting up an easy layup to give St. Patrick a 61-60 lead with 43 seconds remaining.
A pair of sophomore guards, Rhett Jones and Nick Krass, each converted their free throw attempts in the final moments to close out the victory and spark a celebration on the gym floor.
Jefferson and Jones were among the players mobbed by their classmates and teammates.
“It felt amazing,” Jefferson said. “Coach told us to keep fighting and keep our head in the game.”
Jefferson’s two baskets in the final 1:09 were his only points of the game.
Krass led the Irish with 20 points. Drew Roth added 12 points while Jones and Michael Fitzpatrick each had 10.
St. Patrick has reached the quarterfinals in each of the last two seasons and if it beats Philadelphia on Friday it will be the deepest the program has ever been in the playoffs.
“Our program has gradually gotten better each year,” Robinson said. “This team is young. We only have one senior. We weren’t really expecting to be here. Last year, we set a record for the furthest St. Patrick has ever gone. This game puts us in the same spot.”
Gulfport 68, Meridian 54
The final score was one of the bigger surprises of the postseason so far, but the way the Admirals dominated a strong Meridian squad sent shock waves across the state.
Gulfport (26-6) led the game 20-1 after one quarter and pushed its lead to 41-8 at the half to build an insurmountable lead.
“We got out to a good start, obviously,” Gulfport coach Owen Miller said. “We zoned them, played the halfcourt zone. They started missing and got nervous a little.”
Meridian outscored Gulfport 46-27 in the second half and cut the Admirals’ advantage to as little as 12 points, but there was no coming back from a 33-point deficit at the half.
It was an incredible turnaround for Gulfport considering it lost 49-30 at Meridian just two weeks prior.
Reubon Kelly had a big night for the Admirals, leading the way with 24 points. Keijuan Johnson added 11.
Biloxi 60, Northwest Rankin 49
Biloxi (23-4) went down early at home to the Cougars, but the Indians survived a bumpy first quarter to take control the rest of the way.
“They came out and jumped on us, which I kind of expected,” Biloxi coach Seber Windham said. “For most of our guys, it was our first real playoff game. All our guys were junior varsity last year except for Caleb (McCarty). We didn’t have a lot of experience that we could rely on so we had some miscues. I called time out and told our guys to keep our composure. At the end of the day, it’s still basketball. In the second quarter, we settled down and got rolling.”
McCarty, a 6-foot-7 senior center, led the Indians with 20 points and five blocks.
Saturday’s battle with Gulfport sets up as one of the bigger battles in the history of the rivalry.
“Nobody expected Biloxi to be where we are after losing everything we had last year,” Windham said. “Right now, our guys are feeling pretty good. Gulfport was the big bad wolf of the Gulf Coast and everybody sees Harrison Central as a big bad wolf. Those are fantastic teams. We’ll come in and play free and play hard.”
Harrison Central 71, Oak Grove 68
Harrison Central coach Boo Hardy decided to go big with his lineup, and it paid off in the battle for the boards.
Hardy went with 6-7 sophomore Sam Murray at the two guard, 6-6 junior Carlous Williams on the wing, 6-5 junior Noe Tchouamo at power forward and 6-4 junior Jacobi Moore at center.
“We tried to use our size advantage because they beat us up so bad on the boards the last time we played them,” Hardy said. “It is a really good feeling (to have the bigger lineup work.) Sometimes we go small. Sometimes we have to go big. It’s a luxury to be able to do both.”
Moore responded to well to Hardy’s game plan, consistently hitting the offensive boards for 19 points. Williams also had a big night with 20 points.
Oak Grove beat Harrison Central 60-45 in the season opener for the Red Rebels (25-4).
Quitman 48, Bay High 31
Quitman held a 17-10 lead after the first quarter and the Tigers had a hard time closing the gap as the game went on. The Tigers’ season comes to a close with a record of 21-10.
This story was originally published February 22, 2020 at 9:48 PM.
