Freshman phenom shines as Biloxi wins showdown with previously unbeaten Harrison Central
Zaniya Johnson probably already has seen more varsity basketball action than any other athlete on the Coast. And she’s only a freshman.
So when her Biloxi Indians traveled to Harrison Central to face the vaunted and undefeated Red Rebelettes, she didn’t blink. And neither did her teammates.
Biloxi thumped HCHS in its own house, 47-26, to earn its second district win of the year and announce its presence in the process.
“Me and my team were hoping to make a very powerful statement,” Johnson said after the resounding victory.
The Indians are fresh off a trip to the Final Four and are priming for another run at the Big House in Jackson. The dismantling of a rival loaded with a Mississippi State commit in Anaisha Carriere and multiple standout freshmen only serves to prove head coach Devin Hill’s team can do just that.
Biloxi is now 12-1 and has beaten every Mississippi team it has faced, winning by an average of 22 points. And the Indians are doing this after the graduation of 2023 Sun Herald Player of the Year, and now-freshman forward at William Carey, Shaneal Corpuz.
“Once we stop worrying about the expectations and play how we want to play, we’re really good,” Hill said. “When we play how people in the stands want us to play, we start getting confused and we don’t play with confidence. I though tonight we did a great job of playing the way Coach Hill wanted us to play.”
Johnson’s team
Johnson played Robin to Corpuz’s Batman last season as the then eighth-grader got her varsity feet under her. It took just a handful of games for Hill to opine to the Sun Herald that Johnson would reset every record the decorated Corpuz set.
Her advanced feel for the game and open mindset is producing a season that is shaping up to be a months-long coming out party that was always coming.
Through 13 games, Johnson is averaging a double-double, with 16.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per contest.
“Her maturity level has been the big key,” Hill said. “She’s always had ability. She’s always had the big frame. But her maturity has allowed her to be coached and be coached hard. She has a huge weight on her shoulders to be a freshman, but she’s so poised and so coachable.”
Against a Red Rebelette team with the 6-foot-3 Carriere and 6-foot-4 freshman in Saniyah Murray towering at forward, Johnson was unfazed. She dominated with 17 points and 13 rebounds, and assumed total control of the low block with six swats and three steals.
“My mentality is that I’m going to help my team as much as possible,” Johnson said.
It was her seventh double-double of the year and the 18th in a career that began in seventh grade.
Starting five fit for Jackson
Johnson isn’t alone, though her presence in the paint is dominating. Even without the ball, the defense collapses in on her. The result on Tuesday was empty pockets on the wing and in the corners that BHS guards used to hit three-ball after open three-ball.
The Indians hit six 3s against HCHS, five of them coming in the first half. Amari Merideth hit three triples and point guard Aaliyah Davison knocked down a pair.
“The more we give it to (Johnson), the more the guards get open,” Davison said. “So it just opens up a lot for us on the court.”
Hill is also getting a strong contribution from the emergence of Kylie Cruso, a senior forward given the toughest task in every game: guard the opponent’s top player.
Cruso’s responsibility was the SEC commit Carriere, who was held to just nine points and only four in the first half.
“Kylie has been our defensive staple for a year,” Hill said. “Last year, about halfway through the year, my daughter Aubrey went down with an ACL injury. She was a girl we put on everybody’s best player. We don’t look for the talented girl, we look for the tough girl. Kylie is the epitome of tough. If you look at tough in the dictionary, that’s her.”
Biloxi has its flaws. The Indians lack depth beyond its starting five, for one. But Hill believes in what he has and in the mission his staff has set out to accomplish.
“We came to Biloxi to win a championship, that is our goal,” Hill said. “District championships are great, but I tell the girls we only get a t-shirt for that. We want rings. That’s why we came here. That’s why we play... I think if we continue on the path we’re going, as our offensive game continues to catch up to our defense, I think we’re going to be a dangerous team when it’s all said and done.”
Biloxi returns to action Friday at Ocean Springs and is barreling toward another big game against currently-undefeated Hancock on Jan. 4.
