It was all Gulfport from start to finish.
Behind a fast start along with sting defense the Admirals raced past Oak Grove 69-17 to claim the Hattiesburg Coca-Cola Holiday Classic Boys Championship on Saturday night.
“We look at it anytime we play a 7A school outside of the coast it could be a potential playoff matchup, so our job is to just handle business and take care of us,” said Gulfport coach Brian Butler. “We play the way we want to play and make sure that we are successful and our guys played hard tonight. They wanted another trophy and when your playing for hardware it brings some extra motivation.”
Gulfport began the game on a 13-2 run and ended the first quarter on a 7-2 run to take a 20-4 lead that was highlighted by a Morris Robertson three-pointer at the buzzer.
In the second quarter the Admirals outscored the Warriors 16-3 to take a commanding 36-7 halftime lead.
Gulfport then outscored Oak Grove 17-2 in the third quarter to extend the lead to 53-9 and put the game out of reach.
Cameron Morris finished with a game-high 20 points to lead Gulfport, while Trevor Frost added 14 points and Robertson had 13 points for the Admirals (11-1).
“We talked to the guys all the of time of how God gifted they are and how hard they work on their craft and use their speed, strength, and size to the advantage and we knew we had that advantage tonight and we wanted to capitalize on it,” Butler said. “Defensively we did something for the first time in a long time is we talked and communicated with each other and did a great job with our pressure. We want to continue to get better every day and it’s a long season, so we’re focusing on getting better every day.”
Kristian Pounds had five points to lead Oak Grove (7-6).
“Didn’t come out ready to play from the beginning of the game they way we wanted to, and we knew it was going to be a tough matchup for us,” said Oak Grove coach LaRon Brumfield. “They came out and played really well, getting the ball down low and once they got going we couldn’t bounce back. It is what it is and we will learn from this and keep moving forward and get ready for district.”
