There were several Thanksgiving tournaments scattered across the “Southern Six” and elsewhere as well that wrapped up just before teams took a break to celebrate the holiday.
One of those two-day events took place in Picayune, as the host Maroon Tide boys moved to 5-1 overall with a pair of wins earlier this week. Picayune beat West Jones 65-56 on Monday and followed that up with a 40-38 win over St. Stanislaus on Tuesday. No scoring info was available for the Maroon Tide, but the Rock-A-Chaws got 12 points from Paxton Debardeleben and 11 points from Spencer Cornell while Max Baria added nine points in the loss.
On Monday, SSC beat Sumrall on the opening day of play 51-44. DeBardeleben again paced the Rocks with 17 points and nine rebounds while barely missing a double-double. Also, the sophomore Baria chipped in 12 points to the winning effort while Alan Gilliam added 10 points and a game-high seven steals. SSC is 3-2 overall on the season.
Elsewhere, in Gulfport, there was also a two-day prep holiday tourney taking place at Bert Jenkins Gym.
On day one, Heritage Academy knocked off the host GHS boys team 72-52. The Admirals rallied on day two beating Hancock 49-35 on Tuesday.
The Gulfport girls fell to Madison-Ridgeland Academy on Tuesday 63-41 despite getting 13 points from Nyla James while Shamyia Walker added nine points and nine rebounds.
Also, in Panama City Beach, Fla., the Biloxi girls took a trip over to the Panhandle and picked up a pair of wins in the PCB Thanksgiving Tournament to remain perfect on the young season at 7-0.
The Lady Indians destroyed the competition, beating North Bay Haven Academy 69-9 on Monday before thumping Gadsden County 74-8 on Tuesday.
Those scores are NOT incorrect.
In the first win, both Zaniya Johnson and Nakena Terry tallied 16 points apiece to pace Biloxi while Aaliyah Davidson added 13 points to the winning effort. Zaniya Johnson had 12 rebounds to register a double-double, and Jayla Johnson also pulled down 10 boards and Terry had nine steals.
On Tuesday, both Terry and Zaniya Johnson scored 16 points apiece to pave the way to the win while Amari Meredith chipped in 13 points as well. Davidson added eight steals and five assists.
There will also be at least two more one-day events to wrap up the holiday break on Saturday in the “Southern Six”. One such event takes place in Poplarville on the campus of Pearl River Community College. The event actually begins with one girls’ game on Friday afternoon at Noon as rivals Pascagoula and Gautier square off. Six more games will be played on Saturday.
