By Maurice Singleton/Sports Writer

GULFPORT — The St. Stanislaus Rock-A-Chaws overwhelmed the Terry Bulldogs with pressure on both ends of the court, attacking the basket and finding the open scorer on the offensive end, and denying easy shots when they were on the defensive end.

The Rock-A-Chaws improved to 14-1 on the season with a 62-42 win Tuesday night in the winners bracket semifinal play at the 42nd annual Holiday Classic here at Bert Jenkins Gymnasium on the campus of Gulfport High.

Junior point guard Rafael Cohen broke down the Bulldogs’ defense in traffic in the halfcourt offense, while senior Max Baria pivoted in the paint for layups or dished to Jason Forte for easy back door layups.

“We tried to put together a schedule to challenge us,” said Rock-a-chaws coach Daniel Grieves. “Everything we do all season is for the post season tournament play. Everything we do is to prepare us for that. Our last four games have been Biloxi, Country Day out of Metairie (and Madison Central), and teams just like that, big strong, athletic, just like Terry.

“It’s great to see our guys rising instead of sinking,” said Grieves. “We know we didn’t play our great last night, so we got back to the drawing board to make sure we were putting everything together today to put the end of the season in their minds. So, I am happy to see them do that.”

The Rock-A-Chaws never trailed, and they built their lead over the first three periods, taking a 15-11 lead at the end of the first period, and increasing the lead to 9 points at halftime (27-18).

The Rock-A-Chaws had their best eight minutes of play in the third quarter, scoring 15 points while holding the Bulldogs to only 5 points.

“Defense wins championships,” said Grieves. “We feel like with our style of play, we are going to score points. It’s not about beating a team eighty to sixty. It’s about trying to hold teams under their averages, trying to hold them under 40 points. We feel if we can do that, we can always give ourselves a chance to win.”

Baria had four blocks on the night, and the Bulldogs seemed to alter their shots to avoid their shots being blocked.

Cohen led the Rock-A-Chaws with 18 points, and Baria and Forte each chipped in 14 points. Senior Alan Gilliam added 8 points.

With the win the Rock-A-Chaws earned a spot in the Gulfport High School 42nd Annual Holiday Classic championship against the Gulfport Admirals on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.