‘They become family.’ Biloxi season comes to an emotional close for seniors.
A slow start and foul trouble for its senior star proved too much for the Biloxi boys basketball team to overcome in the MHSAA Class 6A semifinals in Jackson on Wednesday.
Murrah jumped out to a 17-4 lead after one quarter and kept the Indians at an arm’s length for much of Wednesday night’s contest at the Mississippi Coliseum.
Murrah won 63-50 to set up a state championship battle with Starkville at 7 p.m. on Saturday in The Pavilion at Ole Miss.
A basket by Chad O’Neal cut Murrah’s lead to 55-50 with 1:20 left, but the Mustangs scored the final eight points to set off a celebration at the coliseum, which is located only three miles from their campus.
“We started off a little shaky, playing on this stage with some young guys,” Biloxi coach Seber Windham said. “Sometimes there’s jitters that go on. That’s part of the game when you have a young team. At the end of the day, our guys kept fighting. I’m so proud of this young group. They did some things that nobody would’ve ever thought. I couldn’t be more proud of this group.”
A dejected group of Biloxi players headed back to the locker room with the difficult realization that their seniors had played their final game.
No player took the defeat harder than senior center Caleb McCarty. He battled foul trouble for much of the game, earning his fourth about midway through the third quarter. He finally fouled out with 5:13 remaining.
After scoring 28 points to lead Biloxi past Gulfport, McCarty put up a team high of 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in 21 minutes.
“When your best player has got to sit, he’s your go-to guy,” Windham said. “We don’t have a lot of scorers on this team. We’ve got some gritty guys, some defensive guys. Everything kind of rotates around him. It was a bang, bang play and the kid tries to dunk it on him (on the fifth foul). They called a foul. That’s just part of basketball and we’ll live with that.”
Jervin Smith, Cameron O’Neal and Keontae Beasley were the three other Biloxi seniors who played their final high school games.
“When you have seniors that have been in your program since ninth grade, you get a chance to know them,” Windham said. “You grow with them. They grow with you. They become part of your family. I wish them nothing but the best. All four are going to be great people in life. That’s all you can ask for, but you hurt for them. They’ll always be part of this program. They’re the reason we made it to the state semifinals this year.”
Kam’ron McBride was the only other Indian in double digits with 10 points and five rebounds.
Murrah junior forward Joseph Dupree, a burly 6-6 forward, had a big night with 26 points and five rebound. He showed a nice outside shot, hitting three of five 3-pointers.
Christian Evans pitched in 14 points and five rebounds for the Mustangs (20-10) and Christian Pillow tacked on 12 points.
