By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

HOOVER, Ala. — The Ocean Springs boys basketball team is competing in the prestigious Big Orange Classic here at Hoover High for the first time in the four-decade history of the multi-day event.
And it didn’t take the Greyhounds and standout junior guard Maddox Noblitt any time at all to make a statement in what is one of the longest-running annual events of its type in the Southeast.
Ocean Springs jumped all over Benjamin Russell from Alexander City, Ala., early and often and went on to dominate in a 62-41 win on the opening day of the tournament Thursday night.

“We were able to get some stops early and get the game going at our pace,” Ocean Springs first-year head coach Collin Goley said. “They tried to throw a mix of zone and man at us and I thought we handled it well. We played a lot of guys tonight and they all contributed in a positive way so that was great to see.”

Noblitt poured in a game-high 27 points, including seven 3-pointers, in the commanding win as the Greyhounds ran their win streak to 1o straight games and to an impressive 12-2 record overall.
Noblitt drained a pair of treys as did his backcourt teammate Elijah Isom in the first frame to helping the Greyhounds double up the Wildcats at the end of the first quarter 16-8. Isom had half of those 16 points.

Noblitt drained another pair of 3-pointers in the second stanza, and added two more baskets for 10 points in that period as the Ocean Springs lead grew to an almost insurmountable 34-16 advantage at halftime.
Just in case the Wildcats harbored any hopes of a glorious second-half comeback, Greyhound big man Christian Bingham tallied six points in the third frame and Noblitt added yet another trey to make the lead to 48-27 heading into the final period.
Noblitt was back at it again in the fourth quarter, raining in another pair of treys to complete the resounding win.

In addition to Noblitt’s 27 points, Isom chipped in 15 points while Bingham added nine points all in the second half.
Malcolm Simmons led Benjamin Ruseel with 10 points.
Goley and the Greyhounds face a tough test in highly-touted Montgomery Bell Academy out of Nashville, Tenn., Friday night in the semifinals of the winner’s bracket. Bell beat Cullman, Ala., Thursday.
“We’re excited for the challenge we have tomorrow against a really good Montgomery Bell team,” Goley concluded.