By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

HATTIESBURG — Since 1961, Hattiesburg High has hosted an annual prep basketball Christmas Tournament.

And for what appears to be the first time ever, the Gulfport boys’ team is participating in the event.

The Admirals, the top-ranked team in the SouthMiss6 Sports “Super 7” Poll, take on Brandon Friday afternoon at 4:30 in the Hub City in opening round play of the Hattiesburg Coca-Cola Holiday Tournament.

And that game is this week’s “Vertical Raise Game of the Week” for SouthMiss6 Sports.

Each week during the prep football season, SouthMiss6 Sports will feature a “GOTW” sponsored by Vertical Raise, the premier online fundraising platform for athletic teams and associated clubs and supporters of all ages.

Brandon has made quite a few appearances in this annual affair in the Hub City. The Bulldogs are coming off a solid season last year in which they advanced all the way to the Class 7A overall Final Four in Jackson.

Brandon sits just 7-9 this season, but comes into the meeting with Gulfport on a three game win streak after a 70-55 win over Yazoo City Monday night.

Josh Purry tallied a game-high 20 points for the Bulldogs in that one, while his teammate Elijah Morey came up big as well with a double-double scoring 19 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.

Gulfport comes in to the match-up at 9-1 after pulling out a 64-62 win over home-standing Biloxi at the Biloxi Sports Arena Friday night. The win helped the Admirals bounce back from their first league loss in well over a year.

Gulfport trailed by nine points on two separate occasions in the game, before rallying to pull out the win.

Travor Frost tallied a game-high 22 points to guide Gulfport, while Morris Robertson chipped in 16 points to the winning cause.

As the premier online fundraising platform, Vertical Raise utilizes the newest technology through a tested combination of email, text and social media campaigns to maximize the reach of your fundraiser.

Our successes are built upon our best-in-class email deliverability, detailed tracking and the complete personalization of every participant’s page. Combining this proprietary system, with experienced and passionate fundraising coaches has made us the most effective fundraising platform available.

We look forward to partnering with you to elevate your organization to its full potential! Please contact your local fundraising rep Ricky Cunningham at 228-263-4755 for more information.