Challenging basketball will be in ample supply for the Gentry High squads this week as they play their final games of the 2017 calendar year.
For today, both the 12-2, 2-0 Rams and the 8-6, 2-0 Lady Rams begin their participation in the Hattiesburg Coca-Cola Christmas Tournament.
While the Lady Rams open their play today at noon versus Brandon High School, the Rams will take the court at 4:30 p.m. against Wayne County High of Waynesboro.
Should the Lady Rams win their opener, they will return to the Hattiesburg High court at 3 p.m. Friday to take on the winner of Thursday’s South Jones High of Ellisville versus Jefferson Davis County High match-up.
An opening game loss will take the Gentry girls back to the gym floor at 9 a.m. Friday against the loser of the above pair of teams.
In boys’ action should the Rams claim the victory today, Friday will find them playing again at 4:30 p.m.; on this occasion against the winner of today’s Brandon High - Holmes County High clash.
Should the Rams lose today, they will play at 10:30 a.m. Friday versus the loser of the Brandon High – Holmes County game.
The tournament will wrap up on Saturday with noon and 1:30 p.m. consolation games while the championship games are scheduled to tipoff at 6 and 7:30 p.m.
The roster of teams participating in this tournament is impressive as in addition to Gentry High and those already mentioned above, other schools participating include Hattiesburg High, Columbia High, Charleston High, Greenville High, and Laurel High School.
In their most recent play last Saturday, the Rams claimed a hard-fought 80-77 home-court victory over Greenville High School.
Although down 34-32 at halftime to the Hornets, the Rams took the lead in the third frame by way of a 29-25 scoring edge and then held on for the win.
Cartisco Brown blistered the Hornets’ defense with 32 points to lead all scoring.
Also reaching double digit scoring status were Ernest Minton and Darrius Clark, who completed the game with 13 and 10 points respectively.
In girls’ action, the Lady Rams took control of the game early as a 27-12 halftime lead led to their eventual 21 point victory.
Mercedes Hayes turned in another double double which included a team-high 21 points and 11 rebounds while sophomore Shakori Dawson bucketed 13 points against the Honey Bees’ defensive efforts.
