A Coast team clinches victory in thrilling overtime Holiday Classic championship game
D’Iberville entered the Gulfport Holiday Classic as reigning champions but was joined in the bracket by some of the top teams on the Coast and across the state, as well as multiple college prospects.
That didn’t matter for coach Robin Sikes and his team. The Warriors took down top-ranked Meridian, dispatched Yazoo City and fought their way to a dramatic 47-43 overtime win over Gulfport to win the tournament once again.
“To God be the glory,” Sikes said. “It’s hard to win it once. It’s hard work. The odds were stacked against us from the very beginning... It was hard, but on the other side of hard is success. I’m thankful for the journey but the job’s not done.”
Sikes is the first coach to win the tournament in consecutive seasons since Danny Grieves did so three times with Gulfport from 2003 to 2005.
The Warriors came into the event with an 8-6 record and are leaving with 11 wins and a renewed energy for the rest of the year. Sikes hopes his team can carry the momentum forward this time after struggling in the weeks following last year’s tournament title.
“This is just a great end to 2021 but now it’s time to carry it over to district basketball,” Sikes said. “Last year we won this tournament and started losing so we got to get it together. Enjoy the moment but come back ready to win in 2022.”
Sikes said he hopes his team will lean on the experiences from last year to better handle the success of winning the Classic.
In this year’s edition of the championship game, it took tight defense and an unwavering attack to put away the host Admirals.
The Warriors held Gulfport to just one made field goal across the fourth quarter and overtime. Le’Vontae Evans hit a critical three pointer late in the extra period to put D’Iberville up two points and then followed it up with a runaway layup in the final seconds to put the game on ice.
Evans would finish with a team-high 14 points and a spot on the All-Tournament team. D’Iberville also got production from Dominic Simpkins, who scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
“We some hard workers and we don’t care what the names are on the other jerseys,” Sikes said. “Because the name that’s on the forefront of this program is Jesus.”
Kamari Mitchell led Gulfport in scoring with 10 points as the only Admiral in double-digits. Gulfport exits the tournament with an 11-7 record heading into 2022.
Harrison Central 59, Wayne County 58
The Red Rebels avoided a last place finish in the tournament with a thrilling overtime win over Wayne County. Raymond Collins buried a mid-range jumper at the end of regulation to force the extra period.
Collins came through in the clutch again when he knocked down two free throws with 1.6 seconds left to secure the win. Collins finished the game with 10 points and six rebounds while Reggie Conner led in scoring with 14 points.
Harrison Central played without either of its leading scorers in Sam Murray and Demarius Coleman.
Meridian 62, Moss Point 30
The Tigers failed to score at any point in the first quarter, spotting Meridian a double-digit lead that it never let go of.
Kedrick Osby did the bulk of the scoring for Moss Point with 22 points.
Picayune 45, Yazoo City 44
The hero of Picayune’s day one win over Wayne County struck again against Yazoo City. Josh Holmes launched a deep three at the buzzer and watched it bank in for the win.
Holmes finished with 13 points. Troy Carter led the team with 15 points while Isaac Brice contributed with 14.
