By MAURICE SINGLETON/Sports Writer

GULFPORT — The Pass High Pirates led Madison Central for most of the game, but the Jaguars capitalized on a Pirates’ turnover with just under two minutes left and held on to edge past the Pirates 69-66 in the first round of the Admiral Hardwood Holiday Classic on Thursday.

The Pirates had two huge runs in the match-up, first going on a 14-5 run to close out the first quarter at 16-11. Then, in the third quarter, they outscored the Jaguars 18-9 to lead 51-45 going into the final period.

But the Jaguars held the Pirates to their lowest offensive output, holding Pass to 15 points in the period, while putting up 24 points on their end of the court.

“It’s hard to win though when you give a team over twenty-five extra possessions on turnovers,” said Pirates’ coach Robert Sikes. “We try to teach them that you have to compete on every possession, but in competing every possession, you’ve got to compete smart as well.

“I like to look at losses not as losses but as lessons,” said Sikes. “We’ve got to take this lesson – it’s a hard lesson – because we had a chance to win it there at the end. Hat’s off to Madison Central: Phenomenal team, phenomenal program, phenomenal coach.”

The Pirates led by as many as ten points in the second quarter, going up 26-16 on a Landon Hall 3-pointer at the 5:02 mark of the second quarter. From there, Madison Central chipped away at the Pirates’ lead. The Pirates would lead 33-32 with 16 seconds left on the second quarter clock, but the Jaguars would capitalize on two Pirates’ turnovers, converting two steals into two layups in the short stretch to take a 36-33 lead going into halftime

The two converted turnovers closed out a 20-10 Jaguars’ run going into halftime.

The Pirates responded in the fourth quarter with their biggest offensive quarter as Hall scored on a putback to open the second half scoring. Lathan Lewis scored on their next possession to regain the lead for the Pirates at 37-36. The Jaguars kept it close during most of the third quarter, getting within two points several times, but the Pirates would close the quarter on a 6-2 run capped by a Jabari Moye 5-footer to give the Pirates a 51-45.

The Jaguars responded to close the gap to one point (52-53) on a 3-pointer with just over six minutes remaining, but Hall sank another 3-pointer on the Pirates next possession. The Pirates would hold the lead until the 2:00-minute mark when Madison Central’s Davis Flowers got by a Pass defender on the baseline for a dunk to give the Jaguars a 62-61 lead. Pass regained the lead on two Hall free throws (63-62).

J.P. Baldwin would score on an 8-foot jump-shot to regain the lead for the Jaguars (64-63). Then Flowers would get fouled on a made layup, and he would sink the foul shot to put the Jaguars up by 4 points (67-63) with 30 seconds left on the game clock.

The Pirates turned the ball over on an air ball out of bounds on their next possession, and they were forced to foul to stop the clock with 7 seconds left. Madison Central’s Maddox Singletary would sink both free throws to widen the gap at 69-63. Lewis would sink a 3-pointer with one second left to close out the scoring for Pass.

Hall would lead Pass with 22 points. Kyran Laneaux would add 20 points, followed by Ellic Laneaux with 11 points.

J.P. Baldwin led the Jaguars with 16 points, followed by Dylan Rowe with 15 points, and Bralen Parker and Singletary with 14 points each.

With the win the Jaguars’ record improves to 10-4, and they will play a second-round match on Friday against Gulfport at 7:30. Pass record falls to 8-7, and they will play Bayshore Academy (AL) in a consolation bracket matchup at 4:30 on Friday.