By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director
OCEAN SPRINGS — Host Ocean Springs easily dispatched George County Monday night in the opening round of the Jackson County Christmas Basketball Tournament.
Now, the Greyhounds will attempt to keep the championship trophy in the homeland of its namesake.

Ocean Springs dismantled the Rebels 68-37 here at Hubbard Gymnasium in the nightcap of the renewed County affair after a 24-year absence. However, a second meeting of the season between OSHS and Pascagoula for the title didn’t materialize as many expected, after Daphne (Ala.) High nipped the Panthers 69-66 with a furious fourth quarter rally in the opening game of the evening.
So the Greyhounds and Trojans will face off at 7:30 p.m., for the championship in the tourney that is presented by SouthMiss6 Sports. Pascagoula and George County will meet at 6 p.m., in the consolation contest.
On Monday night, Greyhound guard Christian Cowan nailed a quartet of 3-pointers in the first period to get the host team off to a quick double digit lead at 19-9 entering the second period.

Cowan added seven more points in that stanza, including two more treys, as OSHS steadily stretched its advantage out to 30-16 at halftime and never looked back.
Cowan led OSHS with those 19 points, while Jeremy Packer chipped in 10 points, Chip Claunch had eight points in the winning effort and Jacolby Bailey had seven points. The Greyhounds are now 10-5 on the season and have won three straight games.
L.B. Bradley totaled 15 points for the Rebels, while Karsun Fairley added 13 points as George County fell to 9-7 on the season.

In the first game of the night, Daphne slipped past Pascagoula 69-66, overcoming a 46-41 deficit after three periods to pull out the win.
Trojan senior forward C.J. Gardner tallied 12 of his game-high 27 points in the final period, as DHS exploded for 28 points down the stretch to earn the comeback win.
Daphne’s Antoine Sledge added eight points in that decisive frame, and he finished with 24 points in the winning cause as well.
Pascagoula senior standout and Dandy Dozen guard Blake Nettles poured in 26 points for the Panthers, but it wouldn’t be enough as PHS dropped to 10-6 overall. Nettles stood toe-to-toe with Gardner in the fourth frame, as he scored 12 points down the stretch as well. Ireyion Harvey added 17 points for the Panthers, and Marcus Cooper had 11 points also.