A motivated Gulfport team dismantles West Harrison for 10th straight win
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Gulfport beat West Harrison 52-39 for its 10th straight win and 18-1 start.
- Forwards Robertson and Frost combined for 42 points, anchoring Gulfport's frontcourt.
- Butler credits offseason work and disciplined practices as keys to postseason push.
Gulfport walked into a foreign gym Tuesday and faced the best West Harrison basketball team assembled in a decade. It won handily, 52-39, giving coach Brian Butler his second 18-1 start in his second year on the job.
Butler is now 47-4 at the helm of a resurrected Admirals program and has Gulfport in the driver’s seat of a region it’s trying to win for a second straight time.
The win over the now 18-2 Hurricanes gave Gulfport its 10th straight win, a run that includes the school’s first Holiday Classic title in more than 10 years.
“We have some guys that are very talented, physically gifted, but we’re still learning and getting better,” Butler told the Sun Herald. “If you’re making a deep playoff run, you got to get a little lucky, you have to be sharp and execute very well down the stretch.”
The rampaging Admirals have been fueled in part by the sour and sudden end to what was otherwise a storybook 29-win season in 2025.
Gulfport was granted a first round home game in the state tournament against a Meridian team it had already beaten once. The 14-11 Wildcats would stun the Coast’s 7A region champs and deny the Admirals the tournament run many expected.
Butler’s team has a move-on mentality, but it chooses not to forget.
“They hold on to that for motivation,” Butler said. “We had a plan in place last year and we didn’t achieve our goal. So our guys remained hungry, and we had a very good summer and a very good offseason to propel ourselves forward.”
Many of the team’s primary contributors today felt the sting first-hand. Forwards Morris Robertson and Travor Frost were the on-court catalysts a year ago and have again been the driving force behind Gulfport’s frontcourt-focused offense and stifling interior defense.
The pair combined to score 42 of their team’s 52 points against West Harrison.
The lightning-quick Denzel Jackson paces the offense at point guard and makes life difficult for any ball handler attempting to find refuge on the perimeter from Gulfport’s towering bigs.
He’s upped his scoring average into double figures from his sophomore season and is collecting more than three steals a game.
The Butler Process has seen undeniable success, thus far, and that’s what the Admirals will continue to lean on in order to extend their season to the Big House in Jackson.
“Having good solid team wins where everybody contributes,” Butler said. “And not just on game nights, I’m talking practices, also. Continue having championship-level practices. We’re preaching excellence and we’re preaching all the little things and challenging one another to get better.”
Gulfport still has six region games remaining in a district that has been a proven minefield this winter. It has a rematch with an Ocean Springs team that claims the only Admirals’ loss of the year. It faces a St. Martin squad that is the only other team to take down West Harrison.
It puts a four-game win streak over rival Biloxi on the line Jan. 27 and the Hurricanes will storm into Bert Jenkins Gym to cap the regular season.
