By MAURICE SINGLETON/Sport Writer

GULFPORT — The Gulfport Admirals rallied behind solid play in the paint in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Biloxi Indians 17-14 in the period on their way to a 52-51 win before a near full Bert Jenkins Gymnasium on Friday.

Travor Frost would score on a put-back and a layup, and he would sink two free throws in the period. Markel Simmons would score on a layup, a put-back and he would sink an 8-footer to close out the Admirals’ scoring.

Denzel Jackson would open the fourth-quarter scoring for the Admirals first scoring on a 10-foot jump-shot to tie the game at 37-37. He would also score the next Admirals’ points, sinking a 3-pointer to pull within one of Biloxi (41-40).

Simmons’ layup gave the Admirals their first lead of the second half at 42-41 with five minutes remaining in the game. Frost’s two free throws put the Admirals up at 46-44, and they would hold onto the lead the rest of the way.

“It means everything,” said Gulfport coach Brian Butler. “We looked at it, not so much as a rivalry, but as a top seed in the district. We’re fighting for number one. We’re looking to handle the bright lights and all the pressure that comes with that.

“We have a very resilient bunch of guys,” said Butler. “I tell them all the time they’re different. We pride ourselves on being abnormal. A lot of kids, like our kids who have a lack of experience, are going to panic and revert back to bad habits. We try to revert back to our training and not panic.”

The Admirals overcame a 9-point Biloxi lead with just under two minutes left on the third-quarter clock (34-25). But from that point, the Admirals would go on a 10-3 run to close out the quarter, trailing by only two points (37-35).

Biloxi would tie the game at 44-44 on a Reginald Magee 3-pointer, but that was as close as the Indians would get the rest of the way. The Indians would pull within one of the Admirals three times in the last three minutes, but Gulfport answered the first two times, and Biloxi failed at the free throw line the last time.

Trailing 52-49 with 12 ticks showing on the game clock, the Indians attempted to get off a 3-pointer, but the ball slipped out of the shooter’s hand and rolled into the paint, into the hands of Biloxi junior Christian Williams. He went up and sank the layup and was fouled in the process with 2 seconds left on the game clock.

Biloxi’s Seber Wiindham called a timeout to settle his young players, not any of which had played in the Gulfport-Biloxi games a year ago. Williams missed the free throw, and the game was over.

“This was our first Biloxi-Gulfport game,” said Windham. “None of our kids played in the Biloxi-Gulfport games last year. None of them. Gulfport probably had at least eight or nine kids who played in this game last year. When you have experience in a big game, it helps. And I think it showed when they got down by eight, and they didn’t falter. That’s the sign of a good team. Gulfport’s got a really good team.

“We’ve got to clean up small things,” said Windham. “The biggest thing tonight is offensive rebounds by Gulfport. We gave up 16 offensive rebounds. So, if you give up 16 offensive rebounds and barely give up 50 points, you’re doing your job on the defensive end, but you’ve got to finish your possession by rebounding the basketball.”

Gulfport was led by Frost with 12 points. Simmons added 10 points, all in the second half. Morris Robertson scored 9 points.

Jaden Eckford led Biloxi with 17 points. Alejandro Montalvo contributed 10 points.

Gulfport improved to 20-1 (5-0, region). Biloxi’s record dropped to 15-4 (4-1, region).

Biloxi resumes play on Tuesday at Harrison Central. Gulfport hosts St. Martin on Tuesday.