By MAURICE SINGLETON/Sports Writer

BILOXI – The Biloxi Indians overcame a slow start, but they managed to outscore Ocean Springs in all four quarters on their way to a 62-50 win in their Region 4-7A match-up on Friday.

Ocean Springs opened the game with a 5-0 lead, sparked by a Dandy Dozen Maddox Noblitt’ thunderous dunk to open the game’s scoring. From there the Greyhounds led 8-2 and 10-4 before Biloxi closed out the period on a 10-2 run to give the Indians a 14-12 lead.

Senior Joseph Evans sank a three pointer to tie the game at 12-12 with just under two minutes left in the first quarter, and he scored again on a layup to give the Indians the lead, a lead they would never surrender.

Noblitt scored on a layup in traffic to pull within two of the Indians (27-25) on their first possession of the second half. Then Jeremie Packer scored on a layup to pull within two with under a minute to go in the third quarter (40-38), but that was as close as they would get. Biloxi would lead by as many as 16 points down the stretch with outstanding guard play dictating tempo and scoring.

“I thought we showed some fight, to come back,” said Biloxi coach Seber Windham. “This is a brand-new team. All of these guys played JV ball last year. These guys had no summer together. A couple of them played football. So, we’re just getting together.”

“We had to play some guys off the bench, and some of the guys stepped up,” said Windham. “So, I’m really proud of the way our guys fought tonight.”

One of the guys who stepped up for the Indians is Jaden Eckford who recently joined the team after football season. The transfer from West Harrison managed the offense for the Indians by handling the ball for them in their half court offense. He attacked and dished and drew fouls.

“He hasn’t had a summer with us,” said Windham. “He’s brand new. He hardly knows anything (about our offense), but we know he’s a lead guard. Lead guards have composure. We asked him to have composure, and I thought he finished the game out for us.”

Reggie Magee led the Indians with 19 points, including five 3-pointers. Eckford finished with 11 points, followed by Josh Canaan with 8 points and Kentrell Beasley with 7 points.

Noblitt led Ocean Springs with 17 points, including 4 dunks. Nolan Wells added 14 points, and Packer finished with 8 points.

Biloxi improves to 9-2 (3-0, Region). Ocean Springs drops to 4-4 (2-1, district). Biloxi resumes play against Hancock on Tuesday in Biloxi. Ocean Springs hosts Pass Christian on Tuesday.