By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

OCEAN SPRINGS — Half of the boys’ basketball teams in Region 4-7A have long been considered perennial state powers over most of the past three decades or so.
After all, Biloxi, Gulfport and Harrison Central have all won state championships during this century.
However, amidst all that royalty, as the calendar flipped to 2024 a little over a week ago it’s the Ocean Springs Greyhounds that lead the current region race in that league, and it is in most part due to a dynamic duo of Greyhound guards that have excelled this season.
Senior point guard Elijah Isom and junior shooting guard Maddox Noblitt have guided the Greyhounds to a 13-3 overall mark but more importantly 3-0 in league play, as Ocean Springs returns to the court Tuesday night after a 10-day break.

The Greyhounds travel to Gulfport to face the Admirals at Bert Jenkins Gym as both squads resume region play.
The Isom-Maddox combo is delivering 30 points per game combined for OSHS, as the Greyhounds set their sights on their first region regular season championship in almost 20 years as well as their first league tournament title in six seasons.
“Maddox and Elijah have played with each other for a long time. They know each other’s game and what the other is thinking,” first-year Greyhound head coach Colin Goley said Tuesday afternoon. “Most importantly they believe in each other and their teammates.”
Isom checks in at just 5-foot-6, and although small in stature he is significant on the court as he averages 12 points and four assists per game and distributes the ball to teammates while maintaining control of the Ocean Springs offensive attack.

“Individually, Elijah Isom is a do it all point guard,” Goley added. “He can score at all three levels, but is also so gifted as a passer. He makes the game so easy for everyone else but most importantly he’s a competitor and wants to win.”
Isom’s main target on most occasions with his impressive ball-handling ability is Noblitt, the 6-foot-4 standout who burst upon the prep hoops circles in the “Southern Six” as a sophomore last season.

Noblitt is averaging 18 points and five rebounds per game this season and recently poured in a game-high 27 points thanks in part to a career-high seven 3-pointers in a 62-41 win over Benjamin Russell High (Alexander City, Ala.) in the prestigious Big Orange Classic at Hoover (Ala.) High.
That win was the 10th straight at the time for the Greyhounds, who come into the new year having won 11 outs of their past 12 games.
“Maddox is shooting forty percent from three (point range) this year and it has really opened up a lot of space and plays for everyone else,” Goley added. “Maddox’s defense has been very impactful this year, his ability to pressure the ball and anticipate creates a lot of turnover opportunities.”

The dynamic duo has not only carried the Greyhounds to many of their wins this season together but also stepped up individually when the other may have a bit off an off night. They also have helped get teammates such as Christian Bingham, Kaleb Bradley and Nolan Wells, among others, involved in the OSHS offensive attack.
Noblitt hit 19 points and Bingham added 17 points in a 61-52 win over defending region champ Biloxi three weeks ago that pushed OSHS to that 3-0 league mark. Before that, Noblitt tallied 21 points and Isom chipped in 14 points in a 53-40 league win over D’Iberville.
Also, in a dominating 66-43 road win over Moss Point earlier this season, Isom led the way with 15 points while Bradley added 14 points and Noblitt 11 points. And, in an 86-51 thumping of St. Patrick in the D’Iberville Thanksgiving Tournament, Noblitt and Bradley tied for game0high honors with 19 points apiece.
Perhaps the biggest example so far this season of the strength of the Greyhounds’ backcourt came in a 73-59 win over Class 7Aa power Tupelo also in the D’Iberville event. Noblitt tallied 29 points in that one and Isom chipped in 19 in the win impressive win over the Blue Wave.
It’s performances such as that, and others along the way, that the Greyhounds hope will carry over into the new year and secure that long elusive top-seed in the upcoming Region 4-7A Tournament.