By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

BILOXI — Twice in the past two weeks, the unbeaten Biloxi girls have faced off on their home court with another undefeated team.

And the Lady Indians have prevailed both times.

Home-standing Biloxi knocked off Montgomery (Ala.) Park Crossing 45-38 in a hard-fought, back and forth battle Friday night in the final game of the opening day of the eighth annual Lady Indians Christmas Classic here at The Biloxi Sports Complex.

The win pushes the Lady Indians to a perfect 15-0 on the season, while the Lady Thunderbirds saw their season-opening 18 game win streak snapped and now sit at 18-1. Last week, Biloxi beat Hancock which came in at 13-0.

Biloxi’s powerful sophomore inside-outside dynamic duo of standout center Zaniya Johnson and point guard Jayla Carriere dominated for the most part combining for 37 points total, just one point less than the opposing team combined.

“We feel fortunate to come away with a win,” Biloxi head coach Devin Hill said. “Park Crossing is a tremendous team, and I believe our conditioning was the difference in the game. I am super proud of our fight! We proved that we could take a blow and give one back. Hopefully, we can build off this big win.”

The visitors led throughout the first two quarters pulling into halftime with a slight 24-22 lead. But the Lady Indians were determined to remain unbeaten as Biloxi bounced back to outscore Park Crossing by nine points at 23-14 in the second half to pull out the big win.

Johnson led the way in the win for BHS, as she posted her 14th double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds. She also added four blocks. Carriere also posted a double-double, as she dropped in 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Na’kena Terry added seven steals to the winning effort, and Aubrey Hill dished out five assists while Aaliyah Davidson had three assists and three steals.

“Jayla and Zaniya both complement each other very well,” Hill added. “It’s hard to prepare a game plan for both of them! We are excited to have them both for two more years. They are also fortunate to have some unselfish teammates who don’t mind allowing them to flourish in their gifts. I’m most proud about that.”

The loss overshadowed the performance a bit of Park Crossing point guard Saniya Jackson who tallied a game-high 21 points and grabbed eight boards in the loss.

“I thought our girls did a good job of making adjustments defensively against her,” Hill concluded. “She is definitely the best player we have seen all year. She gave us fits in the first quarter, but we made some adjustments and figured out a way to slow her down.”

Action in the annual affair closes out Saturday night, with the Lady Indians facing yet another formidable foe from Alabama in Hewitt-Trussville while Park Crossing faces another touch Mississippi opponent in Northwest Rankin.

Both games are slated to start at 6 p.m.