6A Playoffs: Gulfport knocks out Northwest Rankin 62-44 in second round action

FLOWOOD — You hear a lot of cliche's from coaches about taking what the other team gives you and making the most of opportunities. But both of those

FLOWOOD — You hear a lot of cliche's from coaches about taking what the other team gives you and making the most of opportunities.

But both of those fundamentals rang true for Gulfport Saturday afternoon, when the Lady Admirals feasted off turnovers and raced past Northwest Rankin 62-44 in the Second Round of the MHSAA Class 6A Girls Basketball playoffs on Saturday afternoon.

Gulfport (18-8) advanced with the win and will travel to Meridian in the Third Round of the Class 6A playoffs on Friday to play the Lady Wildcats with a trip to the Mississippi Coliseum on the line. The Lady Wildcats beat Gulfport in the third round last year.

MORE: Check out the Girls MHSAA 6A Tournament Bracket

“We started off really well and our constant pressure gave them problems,” said Gulfport coach Brooke Glass. “We feed off of energy the entire game for the bench, on the floor and anywhere we got it we fed off it and it was big.”

The Lady Admirals couldn’t have asked for a better start as they opened the game on a 9-0 run and held a 17-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Gulfport seemed to have an answer every time Northwest Rankin scored, especially in the first half. The Lady Admirals built a 32-22 lead in the first half.

In the third quarter, Gulfport went two separate runs as they had 6-0 run midway through and a 7-2 run to end the quarter to stretch the lead to 47-33..

To begin the fourth quarter, the Lady Admirals went on a 9-2 run to extend their lead to 56-35 and sealed the win.

“The issue we’ve had the last couple of games is we’ve been starting off the game slow, and tonight we set the tone early and make them play catch up,” Glass said. “Madison and Simaru feed off each other and they give us our offense and makes us go. We owe Meridian one, so we ready.”

Simaru Fields had a game-high 19 points to lead Gulfport. Madison Odell added 14 points for the Lady Admirals.

“We fought through adversity and played well as a team,” Fields said. “We just came out firing, we passed the ball well, pushed the ball well, rebounded well and everything took care of itself.”

Mylani Galbreath had 12 points to lead Northwest Rankin. The Lady Cougars finish the season 14-14.

“We came out nervous to begin the game simply because we’re such a young team,” said Northwest Rankin coach Jalessa Taylor. “They fought hard tonight, but we did some great things this season and we’re leaps and bounds better than last year and need to keep improving.”

Feature photo by Brandon Shields