By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

A pair of Jackson County basketball coaches picked up a well deserved honor on Wednesday.
Pascagoula head boys coach Lorenzo Wright was named as the head coach for the Mississippi Boys Team in the prestigious Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Basketball Classic next year. Wright led his Panthers to a 29-2 mark last season and trip to the overall Class 6A Semifinal round at The Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson. Included in that campaign was a school record 29 game win streak as well.
The game will take place at The Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala., on the campus of The University of South Alabama on Sat., March 8th.

Also, St. Martin girls head coach Jason Kennedy along with his assistant Nykeshia Jenkins were named to lead the South Squad in the annual North/South All-Star Basketball game next year.
The Lady Yellow Jackets are coming off a 25-8 season under the direction of Kennedy. St. Martin fell to Germantown 50-43 in the first-ever Class 7A Final Four Overall State Semifinal round to end last season. It marked just the second time in program history that the Lady Yellow Jackets had qualified for the Final Four in The Big House.
The North/South game will take place one week later on Sat., March 15th at A.E. Wood Coliseum in Clinton, Miss., on the campus of Mississippi College.

George gets promotion
Hurley native Les George has been named the new Head Football Coach of the Southwest Bears.
The Southwest Mississippi Community College Board of Trustees approved the hiring during a board meeting Tuesday night. George, a veteran coach of 14 years, is no stranger to the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference. He most-recently coached as an assistant at Holmes and prior to that at his alma mater Mississippi Gulf Coast. George said that he is excited for the opportunity to lead the Bears.
“As a player and a coach, I’ve been blessed to have been a part of some successful community college football teams,” he said. “And I look forward to taking that experience and using that to lead the Southwest Community College Football program.”
George, an East Central High School product who played at Gulf Coast in 2005-06, was an All-Region 23 and All-MACJC performer as a sophomore. He played offensive line at Bacone College, where he got a bachelor’s in sports management.
George spent three years as the offensive line coach at Belhaven, where he earned a master’s in sports administration. The Blazers set school single-season and game records for rushing offense and touchdowns in 2012 and ranked in the top 12 in the country in both categories.
George and his wife Chelsey are the parents of three daughters: Lucy, Louise and Laura.

Admiral watch
On the prep football scene in the “Southern Six”, Gulfort hosts Petal in the opening round of the Class 7A South State playoffs at historic Milner Stadium Friday night.
The Admirals are looking to snap a three game losing streak in the first round of the playoffs since a 20-19 win over George County in 2019.
Gulfport second year head coach Bake Pennock is also attempting to thwart a history-making mark as well this week. If the Admirals fall to the Panthers, combined with 17-13 loss to visiting Pearl last year, Pennock would become the first ever head football coach in the history of Gulfport High to lose two straight opening round playoff games at home in his first two years on the job.