By Maurice Singleton/Sports Writer

D’IBERVILLE — The Gulfport Lady Admirals closed out their third game against the St. Martin Lady Yellow Jackets on a 12-0 run on their way to a 40-36 win in the Region 4-7A tournament on Tuesday.

The win assured Gulfport of a spot in the upcoming Class 7A South State playoffs, and ended St. Martin’s season in disappointing fashion.

After tying the game at 3-3 early in the first quarter, the Lady Admirals trailed the Lady Yellow Jackets until Alayah Hoyett tied the game for the second time at 36-36 on a layup in traffic with just under two minutes remaining in the game. The score remained tied until there was only ten seconds remaining in the game.

The Lady Yellow Jackets were called for a technical foul for interfering with an inbound ball, and senior point guard Majoiri Avery sank both shots to give the Lady Admirals their first lead of the night at 38-36.

Kamyra Rockingham closed out the game’s scoring when she rebounded a missed free throw and put it back as time expired.

“We just stuck to our keys, and tried to make sure we maintained the level of pressure,” said Lady Admirals head coach Marcus Price.

“I told my girls that it’s hard to beat a team three times in one season,” said Price. “We had a game plan. We kind of changed some things that we didn’t do in the regular season. So hopefully they wouldn’t be prepared and (we would) catch them off guard. And some of those things worked for us tonight.”

The Lady Yellow Jackets had won both regular season games, including a week earlier in St. Martin.

St. Martin was playing without four of their key players due to injuries. However, they still were very competitive, taking a 16-5 lead after one quarter of play.

The Lady Yellow Jackets led 21-14 at halftime after being outscored 9-5 in the second quarter. Both teams scored 12 points in the third quarter. But the Lady Admirals would turn it up on both ends of the court in the fourth quarter, as they had their best offensive quarter of the game, scoring 14 points in the period, while holding the Lady Yellow Jackets to their lowest offensive output, scoring only three points in the final quarter.

“We were getting double teamed up top,” said Lady Yellow Jackets’ coach Jason Kennedy. “We had three starters out, possible four potential starters. In that situation you have kids who are not used to having the ball in their hands in those spots. And we weren’t able to make the plays.

“They gave me everything they had,” said Kennedy. “I love them so much. It just didn’t go our way tonight.”

Avery led Gulfport with 10 points followed by Hoyett with 8 points and Rockingham and Trinity Moore with 7 points each.

Kiyara Lee led the Lady Yellow Jackets with 12 points, followed by Kennedi Jenkins with 7 points.

The Lady Admirals face top-seed and arch-rival Biloxi at 4 p.m., Wednesday in the semifinal round.