Just in time for the tip-off of the brand new prep basketball season across the state of Mississippi, a trio of prep basketball coaches in the “Southern Six” have earned all-star accolades.
Bay High head coach Kelton Thompson along with Pascagoula boys head coach Lorenzo Wright and Ocean Springs head boys coach Colin Goley were named by The Mississippi High School Activities Association this week to be a part of the coaching staffs for a pair of postseason games next spring.
Thompson, who guides both the boys and girls teams at BHS, was selected as the head coach for the boys’ South squad in the annual North/South All-Star Basketball Game Smaller schools (Class 4A/3A/2A/1A) game at A.E. Wood Coliseum in Clinton on the campus of Mississippi College on Saturday, March 16, 2024.
Also, Goley was named as an assistant for the boys’ squad in the larger classification contest (Class 7A/6A/5A) on the same day for the same event.
In addition, Wright was picked as the assistant for the boys team in the prestigious 2024 Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Basketball Game which will be played on Saturday, March 9, 2024 at A.E. Wood Coliseum as well.
We’d like to congratulate all three of those coaches.
228Sports Player of the Week
(Sponsored by Turfmasters)
This week’s 228Sports TurfMasters Player of the Week is Pass Christian quarterback Ladd Scriber.
Scriber threw for 309 yards and five touchdown passes as the Pirates routed Richland 48-6 Friday night in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs at McDonald Stadium.
Scriber amassed 274 passing yards in the first half alone as the Pirates roared to a 28-0 halftime lead. Scriber hooked up with Terry Patton Jr., on three of those scoring strikes, from 11, 39 and 16 yards out, and also found Micah McKay with a 10-yard TD pass and Anthony James with a 10-yard TD strike.
Battles honored
A former head football coach for three different high schools on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Gautier and Biloxi was recently honored in another state for his lifetime of accomplishments on the gridiron.
Mike Battles, Sr. was recently awarded The Alabama Football Coaches Association Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to stints in both his home state and Georgia, Battles spent time leading the programs at Pascagoula High, Gautier High and Biloxi High in the 1980’2-90’s.
Battles spent a lifetime coaching high school football. His career spanned three states over an almost 50 years span and included state championships and undefeated regular seasons in all three states. His influence was so great that one school hired him to lead their program three different times.
A native of Sylacauga, Ala., Battles lettered three years playing football at Southern Miss from 1967-69 playing under Than Vann and P.W. “Bear Underwood. His first head coaching job was at Pell City where he went 5-5 in his only season there in 1973.
In 1981, he decided to try Mississippi and landed the head job at Pascagoula High School where he went 5-7. The following season he returned to Walter Wellborn High in Alabama. Coach Battles would stay for 11 seasons. He then returned to Mississippi, starting the program at Gautier with a JV team. His first varsity team went 9-0 before losing the first round of the playoffs. He stayed in the state, moving to Biloxi High School for four seasons.
“Coach Battles influenced many young men, had many players go into coaching and become a coaching legend in our state. He was the ALFCA and ASWA Coach of the Year in 2010 and coached in the 2012 Alabama- Mississippi All Star game.” a release by the ACA said.
