For the second time in five days, the Terry High Bulldogs upset a highly-ranked team from the “Southern Six” in the Class 6A boys’ state basketball playoffs.
On Tuesday it was Gulfport, and on Saturday it was the Pascagoula Panthers that saw their season come to an end at the hands of the Bulldogs.
Visiting Terry invaded the PHS gym Saturday night and dealt the Panthers a 48-46 defeat in the second round of the postseason. Pascagoula’s season comes to an end with a 19-6 record. Pascagoula led by double digits through most of the first three quarters before the Bulldogs mounted a big comeback in the fourth period to pull out the close win.
Terry’s defense held Pascagoula to just 20 points in the first half, but the Panther defense was even stronger as they took a 20-13 lead into halftime.
Pascagoula’s extended its lead throughout the third frame, as the Panthers out-scored the Bulldogs 18-15 to take a 38-28 advantage into the final period and were just eight minutes away from moving on to the South State quarterfinals.
Terry, however, had travel plans as well.
The Bulldogs blitzed PHS in the fourth frame, out-scoring the Panthers 20-8 to wrestle the lead away and end up with the exciting two-point win.
Tyrell Shorts led Terry with 18 points in the win, while Dorrian McMillian paced Pascagoula with a game-high 20 points and Pete Milledner added 11 points.
Terry moves on to play in the Class 6A South State quarterfinals against Brandon Saturday night at Pearl River Community College in Poplarville.
That matchup was made possible when Brandon slipped past visiting Harrison Central Saturday night 58-54.
The Red Rebels held a slight one-point lead, at 12-11, after the opening quarter, but Brandon fought back and took a 30-26 advantage going into halftime. From there the Bulldogs and Red Rebels basically traded baskets throughout the second half and Brandon held on for the win.
Aujaylen Barron Led the Red Rebels with 17 points while Jonavin Khan added 13 points and Shaun Murray chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds to the losing effort. Mickey Ducksworth also pulled down seven boards for HCHS, which ends the season with a 17-14 record.
The results from Saturday mean that only one Class 6A boys team from the “Southern Six”, Biloxi, qualified for the quarterfinal round. The Indians will face Northwest Rankin on Saturday night at 7 p.m., in Poplarville at PRCC with a trip to the Big House in Jackson on the line.
Biloxi played its second-round game on Friday, a day ahead of almost every other boys’ squad left in the playoffs.
The early start mattered not to the Indians though, as they held off Meridian in the Biloxi Sports Arena 68-65 and moved to an impressive 24-3 overall on the season.
The Indians were paced by their Dandy Dozen dynamic duo of forward Duran Parish and guard James Turner, as Parish poured in a game-high 27 points (five 3-pointers) and Turner tallied 25 points (four 3-pointers) including 21 of those points in the first half alone.
