Prep hoops: “Starting five in the Southern six” returns for a final playoff push in the South State Quarterfinals

“The Starting 5 in the Southern 6”

It’s Week eight of our “Starting 5 in the Southern 6” presented by 228 Sports.com in which each week throughout the rest of the prep basketball season we will highlight five individual performances from the following week as well as five upcoming games that week in our area to keep an eye on. You readers can help us out by sending us stats on your favorite players from the previous weeks’ games on our “228Sports” Facebook page as well as at “@228Sports” on Twitter. We will consider all of those recommendations as we choose our “Starting 5 in the Southern 6” each week.

Players:

1. Maddison O’Dell, Gulfport: O’Dell, a Robert Morris University commit, helped guide the Lady Admirals to a pair of Class 6A state playoff road wins last week as she tallied a game-high 21 points in a seond round 64-43 win over D’Iberville that moved her Gulfport squad to 22-9 overall and thrust the Lady Admirals into the quarterfinal round this weekend. That victory was the second twenty-plus point playoff win in three days for GHS, as in the opening round of the state playoffs O’Dell and her teammates, including her twin sister Micah and point guard Sinah Price, traveled to Terry and beat down the Lady Bulldogs in an easy 56-31 win as the Lady Admirals got a game-high 17 points from Maddie Odell while Price added 16 points to the winning cause. Gulfport plays longtime arch-rival Harrison Central Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals at Marvin R. White Coliseum in Poplarville on the campus of Pearl River Community College.
2. Shaneal Corpuz, Biloxi: The senior standout Corpuz also made sure her Lady Indians would join arch-rival Gulfport in the Class 6A girls’ quarterfinals as she registered yet another double-double on the season pouring in a game-high 24 points and pulling down 10 rebounds in a 53-34 win over visiting Meridian in the second round of the state playoffs Friday night at the Biloxi Sports Arena. Biloxi guard Amari Meredith finished with 12 points, all coming on four made 3-pointers and eighth-grad center Zaniya Johnson just missed a double-double as she scored nine points and collected 10 boards. The Indians face Northwest Rankin Saturday night in the quarterfinals at Marvin R. White Coliseum in Poplarville on the campus of Pearl River Community College.
3. James Turner, Biloxi: The senior Dandy Dozen shooting guard for the Indians also helped deliver his squad an invitation to the Class 6A South State quarterfinal round as he tallied 25 points in a 68-65 win over visiting Meridian in the second round of the playoffs Friday at the Biloxi Sports Arena. Biloxi moved to an impressive 24-3 overall on the second with the close win over the Wildcats. The Indians seemed to be in control of the contest at halftime, enjoying a comfortable 40-23 lead thanks in part to a fantastic first half by Turner who tallied 21 of his 25 points in the first two quarters including four 3-pointers. The Lady Indians face Northwest Rankin Saturday night in the quarterfinals at Marvin R. White Coliseum in Poplarville on the campus of Pearl River Community College.
4. Duran Parish, Biloxi: Parish, a Vanderbilt football signee as a wide receiver, is making big plays with the roundball as well for the Indians as he led Biloxi with a game-high 27 points in that aforementioned second-round playoff win over the always-powerful Wildcats of Meridian. Parish, yet another Dandy Dozen standout for Biloxi, nailed six key free throws in the fourth frame to close the game out. He also picked up in the second half after his teammate Turner cooled off a bit after that blazing first half as Parish put up 14 points in the second half and combined with Turner to produce a dynamic duo that just refused to lose. Parish drained five 3-pointers on the evening. The Indians face Northwest Rankin Saturday in the quarterfinals at Marvin R. White Coliseum in Poplarville on the campus of Pearl River Community College.
5. Avan Wilson, Bay High: The Bay High boys beat visiting Newton County 56-36 Saturday in the Tigerdome to advance to Poplarville. Wilson tallied a game-high 22 points and posted a double-double as well to lead the Tigers as he pulled down 11 rebounds also and he dished out five assists. Jaden Clark chipped in 14 points and five boards to the winning effort. Wilson also scored 11 points in an opening round 36-35 win over McComb at in the Tigerdome in the opening round on Tuesday. The Tigers face Raymond Wednesday night in the quarterfinals at Marvin R. White Coliseum in Poplarville on the campus of Pearl River Community College. The Raymond Rangers have qualified for the Final Four” at the Mississippi Coliseum for the past 10 years with wins in the quarterfinals. The last time the Rangers were knocked out in the quarterfinal round was in 2012 when the Bay High Tigers eliminated them.

Games (All games at White Coliseum in Poplarville at PRCC)

1. Pass Christian (girls) vs. Raymond (Wednesday)
2. Bay High (boys) vs. Raymond (Wednesday)
3. West Harrison girls vs. West Jones (Friday)
4. Picayune (boys) vs. West Jones (Friday) 
5. Biloxi (girls) vs. Northwest Rankin (Saturday)
6. Gulfport (girls) vs. Harrison Central (Saturday)
7. Biloxi (boys) vs. Northwest Rankin (Saturday)