PORT GIBSON — A late postseason surge last February carried the Port Gibson Blue Waves within one win of a berth in the Class 4A State Tournament.

This year, led by seven seniors, three of which are getting looks from Division I schools, the Blue Wave is rolling. Tuesday night in McComb, Port Gibson maintained its perfect record in Division 6-4A by knocking off the ninth-ranked Tigers 69-66. The win leaves Coach Kim Windom’s team at 18-2 overall and 7-0 in the division.

“These guys have been with me for four years and it starts with our defense,” Windom said. “Dominique Ratliff, our point guard, gets us going on defense and we get most of our points off transition.”

Port Gibson’s run to greatness this season is built around an aggressive, full-court pressure defense.

“We press a lot because I can go between 11 to 13 guys,” Windom said. “We will show you a zone press at first, and then go to our full-court man and then we might switch it out back to the zone.”

With their experience, the Blue Waves can unnerve opponents with their constant aggressiveness.

“We’re like the Phoenix Suns,” said 7-foot-2 senior center Jamarious Sykes. “We like to play fast and we’re quick enough to get back on defense.”

Senior Kadeem Fleming, a four-year starter for Windom on the wing, said the Blue Waves’ familiarity with each other is paying off this season.

“We’re doing much better this year, because everyone is on the same page. We hadn’t pulled things together until we made our run in the postseason last year.”

Last season, Port Gibson was barely over .500 when entering the Division 6-4A tournament, but the Blue Wave played well in the divisionals with a second-place finish and then won their satellite playoff game. At the South State 4A tournament opener, Port Gibson upset Forest AHS, which was ranked in the top 10.

“We realized we had a good team,” senior point guard Dominique Ratliff said. “We got the selfishness out and pulled it all together in the playoffs and that’s carried into this season.”

Port Gibson’s magical run ended with losses to state tournament-bound teams Moss Point and Picayune. Moss Point beat Vicksburg in the first round and Picayune made it to the finals, before losing to New Hope in overtime.

“We lost to both of those teams by seven,” Windom said. “The good thing, though, is we matured and gained a whole lot from the experience.”

“We could’ve won the Moss Point game, but we had some bad calls,” Ratliff said. “We just had to forget and come back hard this year.”

The Blue Wave finished the season at 19-12. Port Gibson opened this season with a big win over a Class 5A club from Natchez. They lost to Vicksburg in the semifinals of the Vicksburg-Warren Classic before finishing with a solid win over Warren Central.

The Blue Waves reeled off 13 more wins to get to 15-1 and crack the Associated Press rankings at No. 13 overall and a No. 4 rank in 4A.

“We beat Forest Hill by 11 (64-53) and won our first six division games before going into McComb,” Windom said. “I just hope we keep playing like we’ve been playing.”

Port Gibson will have a rematch with McComb, which last week beat defending Class 5A champion Provine, Tuesday night at Port Gibson. It will be the final home game for Blue Wave seniors Ratliff, Sykes, Fleming, Jessie Hicks, Cortez Magee, Laborius Shinall, and Michael Braxton.

Fleming, a 6-4 wing, leads the team in scoring at 22 points per game. He says the Blue Wave four-out, one-in offense, plays to his strength.

“When we’re in our four-out, one-in (offense), teams have a hard time matching up with me,” Fleming said. “I’m quicker than most forwards and if they put a guard on me, I can post them up.”

“He’s such a tall guard, that teams just have a hard time guarding him,” Windom says with a smile. “Then there’s is Sykes, who’s 7-2.”

Sykes, who transferred to Port Gibson last year from Kentucky, has improved this season. He looked out of place last year, being so much taller on a team that preferred to play at a fast pace.

“We’ve gotten a lot of the stubborness out of him,” Fleming said. “He had a problem with keeping the ball too low, and having guys just swat the ball away.”

“That’s been my biggest improvement, keeping my hands up,” Sykes said.

“His attitude is a whole lot better,” Windom adds. “His fundamentals have picked up and he now keeps the ball close to his head.”

Because there are no players anywhere near his size, Sykes has drawn the most looks. He would like to go to Grambling.

“My whole family has gone to Grambling,” Sykes said. “I like Grambling a lot.”

When recruiters come in to see the Blue Wave, they quickly notice Ratliff and Fleming.

“Tulane came in to see Sykes and came away really liking Ratliff and Fleming,” Windom said. “Right now, all three are in the NCAA Clearinghouse. Kadeem has a 17 on the ACT (college entrance exam), so he’s close. Sykes and Ratliff will take the test in February and Braxton already has an 18.”

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com.