Prep roundup: George County holds off Ocean Springs; OSHS girls win tournament opener

The No. 1 seed George County boys held off No. 4 Ocean Springs late for a 62-57 victory on the first day of the Region 7-6A Tournament.

Ocean Springs (10-17) cut a 10-point lead by George County after three quarters to 60-57 with 11 seconds left, but a runaway dunk by Dwan Williams with 5 seconds left put the game out of reach for the Greyhounds.

George County will play the winner of St. Martin-D'Iberville at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the tournament title game.

"The kids have worked hard all year. We're glad to be playing for a championship," George County coach Ron Renfroe said. "We've kind of been under the radar up in Lucedale."

George County's Tyrese Fryfogle came out with the hot had early in the game and finished with 14 points. Rashad Wiggins also pitched in 14 points for the Rebels (15-6).

George County's top scorer this season, LaRaymond Spivery, contributed 12 points and Williams joined him in double figures with 10.

George County had a double digit lead at multiple points in the game before Ocean Springs pushed its way back in the contest.

"It was like I thought it would be," Renfroe said. "Both of the times we've played, it's kind of been back and forth. Ocean Springs does a good job of being physical and doing what they need to do to keep the game within reach. They did a good job defensively on us. We were lucky to get a win out of it for sure."

Malcolm Magee led Ocean Springs with 14 points. Jordan Brack added 13 and De'onta Burchfield had 12.

Ocean Springs will play the loser of St. Martin-D'Iberville at 7:30 p.m. Thursday with a spot in the postseason on the line.

Ocean Springs girls 55, George County 30: The No. 2 seed Ocean Springs girls picked up a 55-30 victory over No. 3 George County Tuesday afternoon to set up a Region 7-6A title game match-up with rival St. Martin at 6 p.m. on Friday.

The Lady Greyhounds (18-7) played their best game in a while behind 18 points and nine assists from D.J. Blackston.

"Our practices the last few days, we haven't had good practices," Ocean Springs coach LaShonda Smith said. "I was surprised to see ours girls come out focused and really play well. We got scoring from our guards and post players. We rebounded great. We're hoping to build on that going into the championship game Friday."

Junior forward Paige Dumas had a big game in the post, putting up a double-double of 11 points and 16 rebounds. Whitney Gipson also contributed 11 points.

Marshea Grayson had a game high of 20 points to lead George County (13-14). The Lady Rebels will play D'Iberville at 6 p.m. on Thursday for a chance to advance to the postseason.

St. Martin and Ocean Springs played a pair of tight games in region play with the Lady Yellow Jackets winning both contests.

"We played them really well this year, losing to them by a total of three points," Smith said. "We're hoping the third time really is the charm. Our girls have got to come out and do what we do, play good team basketball offensively and defensively. We'll be fine."

St. Martin girls 68, D'Iberville 39: The Lady Yellow Jackets opened up a big lead in the fourth quarter as Savannah Jones led three different players scoring in double digits with 15 points.

Daphane White and Mercedes Brown both added 13 points for the No. 1 ranked Lady Yellow Jackets (25-2).

Casey Ferguson scored a game-high of 19 points for D'Iberville.

Gulfport girls 60, Biloxi 44: Gulfport's girls got a bit of revenge Tuesday with a 60-44 victory over rival Biloxi to open the Region 8-6A Tournament at Hancock High. Biloxi nipped the Lady Admirals in the regular season finale, but Tuesday, Jatiah Lathan led GHS to victory with a 21-point effort. Amyjah Hardnett added 10 points. Reigning Sun Herald Player of the Week Breanna Riley led Biloxi with 19 points thanks in part to five 3-pointers.

Gulfport advances to the region championship game against Harrison Central at 7 p.m. Friday. Biloxi will play in the consolation game against Hancock at 4 p.m. Friday.

Moss Point 61, East Central 36: The Moss Point Tigers advanced in the District 8-4A tournament at St. Stanislaus on Tuesday night with a 61-36 win over East Central. Marcus Brown led the Tigers with 17 points. Aristotle Rush added 15 and Labarius Williams finished with 11. Terrell McAdams led the East Central Hornets with 11 points. Moss Point will meet Bay High on Thursday in a semifinal game at 8 p.m. The teams split games during the season with each winning on the other's court.

Gulfport 57, Hancock 45: Gulfport's boys picked up the opening win thanks to a 15-point effort from Raekwon Murphy and 14 points from Miles Daniels. Hancock was led by Sam Palode and Tyler Butler, who scored 11 and 10 points respectively. Gulfport advances to the championship game at 8:30 p.m. Friday against the winner of Harrison Central/Biloxi. Hancock will play the loser at 4 p.m. in the consolation game.

East Central girls 43, Vancleave 33: The East Central Lady Hornets advanced to the District 8-4A tournament semifinals to play Bay High on Thursday night. The Lady Hornets out-scored the Lady Bulldogs 14-5 in the fourth period to secure the 43-33 win. Sania Wells led the Lady Hornets with 17 points. Jessica Woods scored 11 points for the Lady Bulldogs.

St. Patrick girls 56, Seminary 18: The Lady Fighting Irish opened their postseason with a lopsided win. Morgan McCrea led St. Patrick with 19 points. Anna Clare Colson added 12. St. Patrick will face host Collins at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Harrison Central girls 33, Hancock 31: The Red Rebelettes trailed for virtually the entire game Tuesday but found a way to win. De'Asia McInnis led HCHS with eight points. Jaylin Ladner led Hancock with eight as well. HCHS advances to play Gulfport in the championship at 7 p.m. Friday. Hancock plays Biloxi at 4 p.m. in the consolation game.

West Harrison girls 45, Gautier 14: West Harrison (21-2) had 11 players score in its opener against Gautier's girls, led by Ameshya's 10-point effort. The Lady Hurricanes will play Pascagoula in the 8-5A championship Friday at 7 p.m. Gautier (2-18) will face Long Beach in the consolation game at 4 p.m.

Vancleave 42, St. Stanislaus 28: The Vancleave Bulldogs trailed by 10 points after one quarter, but they out-scored St. Stanislaus 40-16 the rest of the way to hold off the Rockachaws 42-28 in the Region 8-4A Tournament opener in Bay St. Louis on Tuesday night. Trevor Davis led the Bulldogs with 20 points. Mitchell Walk led the Rockachaws with 12 points. The Bulldogs advance to a semifinal matchup against Pass High at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.

This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 10:30 PM with the headline "Prep roundup: George County holds off Ocean Springs; OSHS girls win tournament opener ."