By Joseph W. Gex II/Sports Writer

Gulfport — The Gulfport boys basketball team closed out 2025 on Wednesday by accomplishing something that had not been done in 13 years – winning their annual Admiral Holiday Classic tournament. 

The Admirals, who won 15 out of the first 30 events, defeated St. Stanislaus 56-48 Wednesday nigh to claim the title for the first time since 2012. And, ironically enough, the win over the Rock-A-Chaws was directed by a former SSC stalwart.

Gulfport head coach Brian Butler is a former Saint Stanislaus player and a 2002 graduate of SSC. The last time in this event that Butler was on the same court at the same time as SSC was in the 2001 Admiral Hardwood Club Holiday Classic which took place at B. Frank Brown Gym. That year, in the fifth place game, St. Stanislaus beat East Central 64-41 as Darius Acker scored 19 points for the Rock-A-Chaws and his senior teammate Butler added 10 points to the winning effort.

But Butler downplayed the fact that his current team knocked off his alma mater to earn himself a spot foreever on the “Board of Champions’ that stands in the lobby of Bert Jenkins Gym and recognizes all the former 40-plus winning teams and their head coaches.

“I have coached against my alma mater just one other time in 2017 when I was the head coach at Sacred Heart in Hattiesburg,” butler said. “St. Stanislaus is a top 10 team in the state. Coach Daniel Grieves has them very well prepared. But, it is just another game and we have to be prepared to play our very best each time we step on the court, no matter the opponent.”

Butler played three years in the red and black of the Rocks under current Southern Miss head coach Jay Ladner, who spent 20 years at the helm of the Rocks and led SSC to a state championship in 2011. Ladner also guided SSC to the tourney title in the 2002 Holiday Classic as well.

“As a high school player, we loved the atmosphere of the Holiday Classic,” Butler said. “It was the most intense tournament around; talented players, great teams, and always some excitement on the floor. Now… coaching in ii is an awesome full-circle experience. And I feel honored to follow in the footsteps of some amazing coaches who’ve participated in this prestigious event.”

Butler becomes in seventh GHS head coach in the four decade plus history of this event to lead the host team to the tourney title.

“You want to come in and make your own mark,” he continued. “We have started checking off boxes with goals we are accomplishing. We have players who come to practice every day and work hard. We have outstanding coaches who help put the players in positions to be successful. Winning this tournament was one of the goals we wanted to accomplish. To be able to do that is an honor and humbling.”

One of Butler’s top assistants is Kelton Thompson, a 1996 SSC graduate, who has coached at SSC, Bay High, Picayune, and Pearl River Central. He was also an assistant under Ladner at the time Butler played as well as in 2002 when the Rocks rolled to the tourney title.

Thompson was also the head coach at Bay High when the Tigers won the Holiday classic in 2009. He has been a part of three tournament title teams in Saint Stanislaus (2002), Bay High (2009), and now Gulfport.

“To be able to win this tournament, which is one of the longest running tournaments of its kind in the Southeast, is very humbling.” Thompson said. “And, for me to be able to be a part of it on three very different teams is an honor. Being part of the legacy that Jay Ladner built at SSC, he always impressed upon us to get your name in the program for this tournament. To be mentioned with some of the ones who have done that is incredibly humbling. I am very happy for Coach Brian Butler and the program. This was a very important win for this program.”

Saint Stanislaus head coach Daniel Grieves has played in the tournament and his top assistant, his father Danny Grieves, has won the Holiday Classic five times with three different teams which is tied for the most wins by a head coach with the legendary Bert Jenkins of Gulfport. 

Butler has kept the tournament title in Gulfport this year and has the Admirals poised to make more strides this year. While the winning colors are blue and orange this year at the Gulfport Holiday Classic, there are definite shades of red and black in the history of the 2025 tournament.