Boys’ and girls’ doubleheaders will take place at Ocean Springs and Stone.
A look at the boys’ side in Class 6A has coastal foes Gulfport (12-7-2) and Ocean Springs (10-2-1) squaring off at Greyhound Stadium at 2 p.m. The Hounds defeated the Admirals 1-0 in their only regular-season meeting. Gulfport comes off a thrilling upset of defending state champion Northwest Rankin on the road while OSHS was taken to penalty kicks by Oak Grove before pulling out the win.
Biloxi (13-3-1) took care of Pearl and will now host Brandon (15-2-1) in the other Class 6a South State semifinal match-up.
In Class 5A, Division 7 has 3 of the 4 remaining teams in the South State bracket. Picayune(9-6) upset George County in penalty kicks and the 3 seed now gets to host division and county rival Pearl River Central (13-7). The two teams split their regular season matchups with each winning by 1 goal at home. Division 7 and defending state champion Long Beach (13-2-3) will host South Jones (14-2-2). The Braves squeaked by East Central 3-2 to advance. This will be the first meeting of the season between the Braves and Bearcats.
In Class 4A, Division 8-4A also has 3 of the remaining 4 teams vying for South State berths. Stone (15-7) is making a run similar as Picayune as the 3-seed as the Tomcats defeated Poplarville on the road and now will host division rival Bay High (16-5-2). The Tigers swept both regular season matches by 1-0 scores. Pass Christian (15-7-1) awaits Greene County.
In the Class I bracket, St. Patrick (15-4) travels to St. Stanislaus (9-6-1) as both the Irish and Rock-a-chaws both picked up 2nd-round wins on the road. St. Patrick swept both regular season matchups 5-3 and 1-0. Sacred Heart will host the winner of the Thursday night’s matchup between Loyd Star and Crystal Springs.
The 6A girl’s bracket has a similar feel as the boy’s side as Ocean Springs (15-1-2) is at home ahead of their boy’s counterpart taking on NW Rankin (18-1-4). The two teams battled to a scoreless tie earlier in the year. Gulfport (18-2-1) will host Brandon (13-2-3) on Saturday and this will be their first meeting of the year. All 4 teams are division champions while the Lady Admirals are looking for back-to-back state championships.
In 5A, defending state champion Florence (14-5) heads to Lucedale for a south state championship rematch with George County (11-4-2). The Lady Rebels escaped Picayune in overtime while Florence dispatched Long Beach to advance. The winner has a date in the South State championship with either East Central (14-6-1) or West Harrison (15-4-1). This is the first meeting of the year between the Lady Hornets and Lady Hurricanes.
In 4A, the Stone Lady Tomcats (14-4-1) are still in the hunt to defend their state championship as they will host Greene County-North Pike on Saturday. Bay High (9-10-3) continues its run as a 3 seed as they host rival Pass Christian (14-5-3) in a neighborhood rivalry. The Lady Pirates swept the regular season matchups 1-0 and 6-1.
In the Class I playoffs OLA (7-8-1) travels to Sacred Heart (6-6-2). The Lady Crescents swept the Lady Crusaders 3-0 and 3-1 in the regular season. The winner gets the winner of Loyd Star (18-3) and St. Patrick (15-1) with the Lady Irish having home-field advantage Saturday.
