By CURTIS ROCKWELL

As usual, there will be a veritable plethora of holiday prep basketball tournaments taking place all across the state of Mississippi this week.
And that’s the case in the “Southern Six” as well.
Many of the teams in our coverage area will be competing in various multi-day events at many different sites, as teams warp up play in 2023 before the calendar flips to a new year.
On the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Gulfport, Biloxi and Bay St. Louis will have host tournaments. Also, several teams will be traveling out of the area to participate in events around the Jackson area as well.

The red-hot Pascagoula Panthers will be the first squad from the “Southern Six” in action after a very short Christmas break, as head coach Lorenzo Wright and his crew will carry their 13-game winning streak to central Mississippi to compete in the three day, true tournament style Madison County Christmas Tournament.
The Panthers, coming off a trip to Clinton on Saturday, will turn around and head back to the Jackson area to Velma Jackson High School where they’ll play the host team Wednesday afternoon at 1:30. This will mark the third time this season to the Jackson area for the Panthers to play in a multi-team event.
The rest of the tourney bracket sees Madison Central and Pearl on the same side of the bracket as the Panthers, while Meridian plays Clinton and Germantown faces Canton on the other side of the pairings.
Winners go one to play losing teams both Thursday and Friday as a tournament champion and consolation spots will be determined. Wins by both Pascagoula and Madison Central in the opening round of play will result in a semifinal match-up Thursday at 3 p.m., and earn the Panthers a shot at revenge for their only loss on the season which came in the season-opener seven weeks ago at “The Jump” at MCHS when the Jaguars nipped PHS 52-49.

In Carriere, the annual Pearl River Central Christmas Tournament is taking place as well with three “Southern Six” boys teams involved.
The action tips off on Thursday and will continue on Friday in the four-team affair. In the opening round, St. Martin meets Pearl River High (La.) at 2:30, while the second boys’ match-up pits the home-standing Blue Devils against Pearl River County rival Poplarville at 5:30 later Thursday afternoon.
The two winners face off for the tourney title Friday and the two losing teams from the first day meet as well earlier that day for the consolation title.