Prep Hoops: Top-ranked Biloxi falls; Starting 5 in the “Southern 6” excels

A pair of highly-ranked boys teams from the “Southern Six” traveled to the Jackson area and took part in holiday tourneys on Martin Luther King Day Monday.

But neither Biloxi nor Pascagoula fared very well.

January 13, 2023: Biloxi Duran Parish (12) during the Gulfport versus Biloxi varsity boys basketball game at Gulfport High School. Photo: Bobby McDuffie/228 Sports

The top-ranked Indians headed to Clinton to face Raymond High at A.E. Wood Coliseum on the campus of Mississippi College and the Rangers ambushed Biloxi 73-70 in overtime handing the Indians just their second loss of the season.

The Indians trailed for much of the game but knotted the contest up at 64-64 in the waning moments of regulation to send the contest into the extra session. But Raymond out-scored Biloxi 9-6 in the OT to secure the big win.

Duran Parish paced Biloxi with 23 points, while James Turner and Beau Miles joined him in double digits with 13 and 10 points each, respectively. Biloxi is now 15-2 overall.

Raymond standout Eric “E.J.” Paymon spurred the big upset as he was credited with an outstanding performance recording a double-double of 25 points and 23 rebounds in the win. The 6-foot-8 junior forward, one of the top recruits in the state in the 2024 Class, was named the MVP of the game for his efforts.

Meanwhile, 5th-ranked Pascagoula fell to powerful Horn Lake 88-70 Monday afternoon at Lanier High School in Jackson in the annual MLK Classic.

Pascagoula falls to 16-5 on the season overall, while the second-ranked Eagles of HLHS move to an impressive 21-1.

The decision marked the second time in a little over a week that the Eagles knocked off a Jackson County squad, as then top-ranked Horn Lake thumped Moss Point nine days ago 66-35 in the Tangle on the Trail in Pontotoc.

January 13, 2023: Biloxi James Turner (3) during the Gulfport versus Biloxi varsity boys basketball game at Gulfport High School. Photo: Bobby McDuffie/228 Sports

“The Starting 5 in the Southern 6”

Week three of our “Starting 5 in the Southern 6” presented by 228 Sports.com will each week throughout the rest of the prep basketball season highlight five individual performances from the following week as well as five upcoming games that week in our area to keep an eye on.

Players:

Ryan Roth, St. Patrick: Roth poured in a game-high 29 points in an 83-50 Region 8-3A win over West Marion on Tuesday then followed that up with a game-high 27-point performance in another league win on Friday 84-35 over Perry Central.
Dorian McMillian, Pascagoula: McMillian tallied a game-high 24 points for the Region 7-6A leading Panthers in a 68-39 league win over St. Martin on the road Friday as Pascagoula moved to 16-4 overall and 3-0 in the region race.
James Turner, Biloxi: Turner tallied a game-high 21 points Friday night as the Indians clipped arch-rival Gulfport 52-41. He was also named to the Mississippi Team for the upcoming Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Basketball Classic.
Maddie O’Dell, Gulfport : O’Dell was named to the girls’ squad for the Magnolia State on Thursday for the Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Basketball Classic and then followed that up on Friday with a 15-point performance in a 34-32 win over arch-rival Biloxi.
Duran Parish, Biloxi: Parish, a Vanderbilt football signee, had quite a week as he picked up MVP honors in the Tangle on the Trail event with a game-high 20 points in a 60-58 win over Starkville and then he was named to the Mississippi Team in the prestigious Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Classic. He topped the week off by chipping in 15 points in Biloxi’s win over Gulfport Friday.