By CURTIS ROCKWELL

The West Harrison and Gulfport girls came up with wins in their final games before Christmas break on Friday night.
And Moss Point did the same on Thursday.
The Lady ‘Canes thumped visiting Gulfport 53-22, for their sixth win in their last seven games. Meanwhile, at the same time, the Lady Admirals knocked off home-standing Picayune 67-54.
One night before, the Lady Tigers nipped visiting D’Iberville 34-31.

In Gulfport Friday night, Sydnei Barber led the way for West Harrison with a game-high 20 points plus she added five rebounds and a trio of steals while Jazlee Deschamp had nine points, seven assists and five steals to the winning effort. Jalynn Applewhite chipped in eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds for WHHS, which improved to 7-8 overall with the win after getting off to a slow start this season.
Gautier got six points from Dalayziah Mayes in the game. The Lady Gators were coming off a 50-29 loss also on the road to St. Patrick Thursday night.

West Harrison made it a clean sweep on the evening with a close 37-32 win over the Gators. The Hurricanes were led by Julian Smith and Owen Reese with nine points apiece, and Jamarcus Mccaleb had six points in the win to wrap up things before Christmas. West Harrison moved to 10-6 overall with the win.
The Gators were coming off a 65-32 loss to St. Patrick on Thursday night as the Fighting Irish moved to 11-4 on the season. Gautier stands 7-8 overall.
In Picayune Friday night, the Gulfport girls snapped an 11-game losing streak celebrating a big road win to head into the Christmas break.

“Despite a season that would rival ‘Murphy’s Law’, my kids have continued to fight, scrap, and not quit.,” Gulfport head coach Marcus Price said. “When you are young and not winning many games, it can be tough to keep kids engaged, focused on learning and getting better, while continuing to ‘Trust the Process.’ We have had a lead at some point in nearly every game, but are still learning to execute during those crucial moments necessary to consistently win. They can only gain this experience by being placed in those situations in live game action.”

“So, I am pleased with our progress and understand that it will take time to reach the level of success expected to represent the “Lady Admiral Standard”.” he continued. “I can honestly say that they have played extremely hard and are starting to see the correlation between going hard during drill work in practice, and success in games based on the principles those drills reinforce. I hope our tough preseason schedule will lead to some success during the 2024 portion of the season and we can find a way to sneak into the playoffs.”
Trinity Moore poured in a game-high 19 points for Gulfport, while Skyy Bush chipped in 14 points to the winning effort and Meegan Cooks added 10 points.
Gulfport stands 2-11 overall after the win, with their only other victory coming in a season-opening 52-32 win over that same Picayune squad. Rhyen Goss had nine points for Picayune in that game, while freshman Laikyn Moore added eight points. Carley Gullotte had 12 rebounds for Picayune and Kimora Banks added 11 boards in that one.

Gulfport was back in Mississippi after playing three games on another beach in neighboring Alabama at the Gulf Shores Christmas Classic.
The Lady Admirals started play with a 42-28 loss to the host Gulf Shores squad on Monday. Shamiya Walker scored 11 to pace Gulfport in that one, and Lily Hooker added nine points. Then, on Tuesday, Gulfport lost to Pensacola High 57-42 as Trinity Moore scored 10 points for GHS and Walker added nine points.
The Lady Admirals wrapped up their trip with a 55-49 loss to West Florida on Thursday. M.J. Avery tallied 20 points in that game while Bush added 16 points for the Lady Admirals.
Also, in Moss Point on Thursday, the Lady Tigers moved to an even 8-8 on the season with that three-point win over the Lady Warriors, who fell to 8-6 overall with the loss.