January 6, 2023: Ocean Springs Elijah Isom (1) during the St. Martin versus Ocean Springs varsity boys basketball game at Ocean Springs High School. Photo: Bobby McDuffie/228 Sports
Both Ocean Springs and George County picked up big sweeps in their respective region action on Friday night, but the wins were achieved in different fashions and forms.
Homestanding Ocean Springs picked up a pair of Region 7-6A victories over visiting St. Martin, as the Greyhounds squeezed past the Yellow Jackets 56-51 in overtime and the Lady Greyhounds stopped the Lady Yellow Jackets 49-39.
Elijah Isom poured in a game-high 24 points for the Greyhounds, as OSHS moved to 2-0 in league play. Isom tallied 10 of his points in the extra session. Jaylin Goleman chipped in 17 points to the winning cause as well for the Greyhounds, who knocked off D’Iberville 59-53 earlier in the week to begin region play.
For SMHS, Ty’Lah Whitlock paved the way with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists while Montclair Brave added 11 points, Kaleb Bradley 10 points and Ghabe Colding nine points for the Yellow Jackets.
The OSHS girls got 13 points from Kaleah Lowery and 12 points from Mary Catherine Stovall all coming off of four 3-pointers in the second stanza. De’Shauvionne Jones also chipped in 12 points to the winning cause for the Lady Greyhounds, who now stand 1-1 in region play after falling 46-42 to D’Iberville earlier in the week.
St. Martin got 12 points from La’dymein Lafayette and nine points from Mia Murrow in the defeat, which marked the opening region game for both the Lady Yellow Jackets and the SMHS boys.
On Saturday, the SMHS girls bounced back to beat Alma Bryant (Mobile) 54-43 behind a balanced scoring attack with Mia Morrow’s 10 points, and Tea Lee, La’dymein Lafayette, and Zee Allen all chipping in 9 points apiece while Jay Robinson scored 8 points to go with a game-high 10 rebounds.
The ABHS boys beat the Yellow Jackets 47-41 as SMHS got 14 points and five steals from Kaleb Bradley and Monclair Brave added 12 points as head coach charlie Pavlus’ squad dropped to 13-6 overall on the season.
Meanwhile, just down the road in Vancleave, visiting George County swopped in and swept a pair of Region 8-5A contests as the Rebels picked up a 59-44 win while the Lady Rebels held off the Lady Bulldogs in overtime 58-55.
The GCHS boys got 14 points and eight rebounds from Deuce Knight, as well as 14 points from Tyler Henry all of which came in the first half. Triston Pugh and Ethan Sibert also chipped in 10 points apiece to the winning effort, as the Rebels landed four players in double digits in the win to open league play. George County stands 5-8 overall.
The Bulldogs got 17 points from Kamden Medlen and 11 points from Blake Walters in falling to 5-14 overall in their region opener as well.
The Lady Rebels were led by Taleah Daniels, who recorded a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the overtime win. Miya Dearman added 14 points to the winning effort, while Dakari McNair had 11 points and six steals for GCHS which moved to 3-14 overall in its region opener.
Heaven Washington tallied a game-high 20 points for Vancleave, and she also had eight boards while Alex Pickich dropped in 15 points on five 3-pointers as the Lady Bulldogs dropped to 2-12 overall in the league opener.