Terry Joyner turns in double-double as Olive Branch beats Biloxi to reach MHSAA 6A Championship

JACKSON — Biloxi star Duran Parish was good, but Olive Branch was ready.

The Conquistadors took the Indians’ best shot and held on for a 61-58 win in the Semifinal Round of the MHSAA 6A Tournament Wednesday at the Mississippi Coliseum.

Olive Branch (28-4) will face the Clinton-Brandon winner in the Championship Round at 7 p.m. Saturday on this same court.

Wednesday’s game almost went the other way. Parish was a one-man wrecking crew for Biloxi. He scored 27 points to go with eight rebounds and nearly willed the Indians into the winner’s circle by himself at the end.

But after Parish made a layup to trim the Olive Branch lead to 55-53 with 1:40 to go, Terry Joyner made a series of big plays for Olive Branch.

Joyner blocked a potential layup from Parish into the back-board for a turnover, got a dunk off a slick assist from Caleb Hunt to stretch the lead to 57-53, then threw down an alley-oop to make it 59-55 one possession later.

Parish came right back with an incredibly athletic play that resulted in a layup and a foul, but 58 points just wasn’t enough as Olive Branch’s Landon Jeffries drilled the last two free throws to put the game away.

“We got some big stops down the stretch,” Olive Branch coach Eric Rombaugh said. “(Parish) is a player. He can get a bucket. But Joyner stepped up and made a couple of big plays.”

Biloxi led for much of the game, but it was always tight. The Indians led it 16-13 after one quarter and 27-25 at the half. The momentum started to swing in the third quarter, when the Conquistadors out-scored Biloxi 21-13.

Jaylyn Tyler led Olive Branch with 18 points. Darren Davis scored 12. Joyner turned in the double-double with 12 points and 12 boards. The Conquistadors won the rebounding battle 44-30.

Blake Hart was the only other Indian to score in double figures, finishing with 15 points. Biloxi finished the season with a 28-4 record.