By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

D’IBERVILLE — The Ocean Springs boys basketball team qualified for the first-ever Class 7A South State playoffs last season.

Currently, the Greyhounds have set their sights on a lofty seed in the upcoming Region 4-7A Region Tournament in hopes of duplicating that postseason feat this year as well.

Ocean Springs hit the road earlier this week and knocked off D’Iberville 43-35 in a key league battle. The win pushed the Greyhounds into sole possession of third place in the region race at 4-2, and evened up their overall mark at 10-10 as they prepare to host arch-rival St. Martin in another loop affair Friday night.

“Our focus is on who’s next,” OSHS second year head coach Collin Goley said. “We have to control what we can control and that’s ourselves.”

In its latest win, OSHS fell behind early in the game as D’Iberville’s Juan Santiago nailed a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter pushing his Warriors out to an 8-5 lead at the end of that period.

Santiago and Keilan Stepter each scored four points apiece in the second stanza as DHS maintained that three point advantage as the period unfolded. Both Jayvon Williams and Jacolby Bailey had 3-pointers for OSHS as the Greyhounds stayed within striking distance heading into halftime at 16-13 despite leading scorer Maddox Noblitt being held to just two points in the first half.

However, the Greyhounds got on track in the third frame, as Christian Cowan drained a triple and both he and Noblitt had five points apiece in the period. Ocean Springs also got a 3-pointer each from Bailey and Jeremiah Golemon to overcome that halftime deficit by out-scoring the Warriors 18-4 and head into the final quarter suddenly up by double digits points at 31-20.

The senior Dandy Dozen standout Noblitt then tallied seven points in the fourth period, including three free throws, and Cowan scored five points including another trey down the stretch as OSHS sealed the win.

Noblitt’s game-high 15 points guided the Greyhounds to the win while Cowan chipped in 10 points to the winning effort.

Santiago’s 14 points paced DHS, as the Warriors fell to the fourth spot in the region race at 2-4 and sit at 15-7 overall.

The OSHS win completed a regular season streak over DHS as the Greyhounds knocked off the Warriors 46-34 five weeks ago.

D’Iberville heads to Biloxi Friday night.