By CURTI ROCKWELL/Sports Director

GULFPORT — The 11th straight win by the Pass Christian Pirates highlighted the 2024 “Hoopsfest” Saturday here at Bert Jenkins Gym.
Pass Christian held off home-standing Gulfport 62-53 in the final and featured game of the six contest annual affair, as the Pirates moved one step closer to their 20th overall win of the season.

“It was a very good team win for us,” veteran Pass Christian head coach Buddy Kennedy said. “We had contributions from a lot of different players, and once again our depth helped us.”
Brendan Necaise scored 11 first quarter points for the Pass, including a trio of 3-pointers, on Saturday to get his Pirates off to a quick start and PCHS took a close 22-18 lead into the second period.
In was in that second stana when the Pirates began to take control, out-scoring the Admirals 16-5 to take a commanding 38-23 advantage into halftime as Terry Patton tallied nine points of his own for the Pass.
Senior sharpshooter Amir Abdul Rauf scored eight third-quarter points as Gulfport tried to battle back in the second half, but Pass Christian’s A.J. James added seven points in the final frame including a 3-pointer and four straight free throws to help the Pirates keep the Admirals at bay.

“We haven’t lost a game since we returned from Orlando in mid-December, and I think that we’re going to continue to improve as we enter the playoffs,” Kennedy, whose team is 19-6 overall, added.
Necaise produced a 20-point night to pace the Pass, while James chipped in 12 points to the winning cause and Patton added 11 points as PCHS won its second game in as many days.
Rauf tallied a game-high 23 points for Gulfport and Denzel Jackson added 15 points as the Admirals fell to 7-17 overall.

In addition to the Pass, Harrison Central was the only other boys’ squad from the “Southern Six” to steal a win on Saturday as the Red Rebels throttled Jefferson Davis County 72-37 in the third game of the day.
Aujaylen Barron poured in a game-high 27 points for HCHS while Shaun Murray added 17 points and Nehemiah Barnett dished out seven assists as HCHS also moved one step closer to its 20th win of the season at 18-8.
Meanwhile, a pair of other Coast teams took losses at “HoopsFest”, as Laurel slipped past Biloxi 55-45.
DayShawn McGee led the Indians with 10 points and D’Marion Hayes had eight points, as BHS head coach Seber Windham used the game to “play a lot of our guys trying to get them some varsity experience”.
Also, Petal beat Bay High in the following game 48-18. Jaylen Antoine and Anthony Robinson each had six points apiece for the Tigers, while Ethan Long paced Petal with 11 points.

The other two games on Saturday were girls’ games, as Harrison Central beat JDC 73-51 marking the 21st win of the season for HCHS.
The second girls’ contest was the fifth game and featured one for the females of the event as Bay High moved to an impressive 21-5 on the year with an exciting 37-31 win over the host Lady Admirals. It also marked the 11th straight win for the Bay High girls under the direction of head coach Kelton Thompson.
Kayla Fricke fired in a game-high 15 points for the Lady Tigers and Nakeria Coleman added seven points, while GHS got 10 points from M.J. Avery, nine points from Skyy Bush and eight points from Lilyana Hooker.