The past decade or so has been pretty much a dry span for state basketball championships in the “Southern Six”.
The last boys hoops squad to secure a gold ball in Jackson was Gulfport in 2014 as part of 2013-2014 school. year. And the last time a girls team in our coverage area won a state title was just over a decade ago when Bay High won it all in 2013.
So starting this week, that’ll be the goal for all 48 squads in the “Southern Six” to bring home a state title and break that drought as regular season prep basketball play tips-off all across the state of Mississippi.
There are a couple of season-openers on Tuesday to keep an eye on as Mississippi Gulf Coast teams square off with one another as Biloxi travels to Moss Point and Vancleave heads to Ocean Springs. Both encounters will feature girls’ and boys’ contests.
Also, on Thursday, Picayune hosts Hattiesburg in a rematch from last year’s Class 5A boys South State Championship match.
Also this week, several tip-off tournaments and one-day classic events are taking place throughout our coverage area. In Pass Christian, both the Pirates and Lady Pirates are hosting a three-day round-robin affair to get the season off and rolling beginning on Tuesday night.
Four games will be played each day on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Teams involved, in addition to home-standing PCHS, are Hancock, West Harrison and Presbyterian Christian from Hattiesburg.
Here is the daily schedule:
Also, coming up on Saturday, both Gulfport and St. Martin will be hosting one-day events featuring multiple teams.
In Gulfport, the Bay High boys and girls, the Picayune boys and girls and the D’Iberville boys and girls will all be in action along with both squads from the host school as well in addition to the Oak Grove boys and Lawrence County boys. Five games, three boys and two girls, are scheduled at Bert Jenkins Gym starting at Noon.
Nov 11 Gulfport Tip-off Classic Schedule:
12 – D’Iberville vs Lawrence co (boys)
1:30 – D’Iberville vs Bay (girls)
3:00 – Oak Grove vs Picayune (boys)
4:30 – Gulfport vs Picayune (girls)
6:00 – Gulfport vs Bay (Boys)
Also on Saturday, both the highly-ranked Pascagoula and Harrison Central boys teams head to Jackson to participate in “The Jump” as the Panthers meet Madison Central and the Red Rebels play Jackson Provine. Ocean Springs will also participate in the event facing off with Terry at 1 p.m.
Meanwhile, in St. Martin, the Yellow Jackets will host the Joe Barlow/Mike Perkins Invitational to tip off the opening week again this year.
The annual affair pits four boys teams, including a trio from the Miss. Gulf Coast, against a quartet of teams from nearby South Alabama.
Here is the schedule:
