D’IBERVILLE — The Gulfport girls knocked off the home-standing D’Ibervile Lady Warriors in one of the biggest games in the state basketball playoffs Friday night.
The Lady Admirals blew past DHS 64-43 in the second round of the Class 6A bracket to advance to the South State quarterfinal round in Poplarville beginning on Thursday against an opponent yet to be determined.
It marked the second straight 20-point plus win on the road in the playoffs for head coach Marcus Price’s GHS team this week. However, the win at D’Iberville was much closer to home after the Lady Admirals traveled to Terry High on Monday and came home with a similarly comfortable win at 56-31.
The contest was close for the first period, as the lead changed hands several times and Gulfport wound up with a slight one-point lead at 13-12 as the quarter came to a close.
The second stanza was a far different story, however.
Price’s troops quickly emerged eager to build upon their lead, and that they did quickly racing past the Lady Warriors as guards Saniah Price and Maddison O’Dell combined for 19 of Gulfport’s 24 points in the frame. Price drilled three 3-pointers and accounted for 11 points in that span while O’Dell nailed a pair of 3-pointers and added eight points to the mix as GHS marched into halftime with a commanding 37-18 advantage.
Any thoughts DHS had of mounting a valiant second-half comeback were quickly dashed, ad O’Dell continued with her hot hand scoring nine points in the third frame including another trey and the Lady Admirals coasted on home with the convincing win.
O’Dell tallied a game-high 21 points to guide Gulfport to the win, while Price was right behind her with 20 points in the winning effort.
The Lady Admirals now stand 22-9 overall with their latest win. On Tuesday, in their playoff opener, the Gulfport girls traveled along with their male counterparts to Terry to open the playoffs and the Lady Admirals advanced with an easy 56-31 win as the Lady Admirals got a game-high 17 points from Maddie Odell while Saniah Price added 16 points to the winning cause.
Kalea Storm led DHS with 12 points and Teeale Wells added eight points for the Lady Warriors as they end their most impressive season in recent memory at 23-6. D’Iberville captured the Region 8-6A regular season and tournament titles as the Lady Warriors ran roughshod over the competition in the league by completing a clean eight-game sweep of play 2-0 in the tourney and 6-0 in the regular season.
