Biloxi sweeps district championship games
The trip up Highway 49 was a successful one for those who journeyed from Biloxi.
In the Region 8-6A finals at Harrison Central, it was Biloxi against the Red Rebels in both boy’s and girl’s games and it was the Indians who came away champions in both.
Next-level talent was scattered across the floor in both games and it showed in the final scores. The Lady Indians outlasted the Red Rebelettes 39-29 in the first game before a showstopping nightcap that ended with a 72-66 Indian victory.
Parish vs Barron
The boy’s game featured a back-and-forth battle between Biloxi’s Duran Parish and HC’s Aujaylon Barron. Parish scored 23 points and showed the clutch gene with 10 points in the final quarter.
Barron dropped 32 on Biloxi with four made baskets from deep, three of them coming in the final quarter. Together, the two combined for 22 of the game’s 49 points in the fourth.
“Just two really good players,” Biloxi coach Seber Windham said of the battle between the pair. “Jay is incredible, thank God he’s not 6-foot-2. Two of the best guards in the state going at it, leading their team, putting it all on the line. The fans, they should’ve charged them $20 before tonight’s game.”
Barron hit a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer and nearly single-handedly brought the Rebels a title in the fourth quarter.
But Parish had help and the depth of scoring the Indians boast kicked in. Dayshawn McGee scored seven in the fourth while James Turner and Reggie Connor aided with five apiece.
“I’m so proud of my guys for hanging in there,” Windham said. “Beating a team three times is hard, especially a team like Harrison Central on their floor, who just beat Gulfport... I’m just proud of my guys and proud of my seniors.”
Biloxi takes the court again next Saturday and will face the winner between Ocean Springs and Meridian.
Corpuz dominates
Shaneal Corpuz hasn’t seen a floor she couldn’t take over.
The senior led a thrilling turnaround in the fourth quarter, turning a 26-22 deficit into a double-digit victory with eight points in the last eight minutes.
Aaliyah Davison hit a pair of corner threes that were critical to the Lady Indians comeback.
“We just played with confidence,” Biloxi coach Devin Hill said. “In the second half we talked about pushing pace. So we didn’t walk the ball up, we just pushed it up. I don’t think (Harrison Central) was expecting us to push the ball up the court.”
Corpuz poured in 18 points while Amari Merideth added nine. Eighth grade prodigy Zaniyah Johnson was held to five points but made her presence felt against the lengthy talent the Red Rebelettes boast on the post.
The win completed a three-game sweep of HC and continued what is now a five-game win streak.
“To win this thing, you got to be good and you got to have some luck,” Hill said. “We’ve been here before, our region is four really good teams and we’ve been talking all year that a really good team is going to get left out. Last year, that team was us. So we kind of chewed on that all year... (Our) work ethic has been really good and what you see today is the product of what we put in.”
That one good team left out of the statewide playoffs this year is Hancock. The Lady Hawks were the No. 1 team in the state just a month ago, but had their season end in the consolation round of the district tournament against Gulfport.
The Lady Indians return to action next Friday and will play the winner of Pascagoula at Meridian.
District champions around the Coast
Boys
R8-6A: Biloxi
R7-6A: Pascagoula
R7-5A: Picayune
R8-5A: George County
R8-4A: Bay High
Girls
R8-6A: Biloxi
R7-6A: D’Iberville
R8-5A: Gautier
R7-5A: West Harrison
R8-4A: Pass Christian
This story was originally published February 11, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
