By SAM STAFF/Sports Writer

BAY ST. LOUIS — A long-standing holiday tradition this time of the year sees several “Southern Six” squads in prep basketball gathering at the Tiger Dome here for a flurry of hoops action.

And this year is no different.

The annual “Bay High Christmas Tournament” tips off Friday morning and will wrap up on Saturday with six games each day. Six boys teams and six girls squads are involved, and of the 12 teams total 10 are from the “Southern Six”.

This event has been happening for most of the past three decades.

Both Bay High teams get things rolling right away Friday morning in the first two games of the event, as the Tigers take on Long Beach at 10:30 a.m., and the Lady Tigers meet Christian Collegiate Academy at Noon.

In addition to both teams from those three schools, the boys and girls teams from Gautier, Picayune and St. Patrick are also involved in the tournament.

Both Bay High teams are once again under the direction of head coach Kelton Thompson. And although the Bay boys sit just 7-9 overall, Thompson has his Tiger team on a four game win streak as they enter into their own annual affair.

Included in that recent successful span was a win a 61-19 thumping of Poplarville to open Region 8-4A action.

Tiger standout Anthony Robinson poured in a game-high 25 points in that win over the Hornets, including a trio of 3-pointers, and Robinson also swiped seven steals. Niyjah Abbot added nine points to the winning effort, while Jaxson Meranto had seven points. Jaylen Antoine had six points and a game-high nine rebounds for BHS.

Brock Gramling scored seven points for Poplarville.

The Bay High girls also opened Region 8-4A in successful fashion, with a 48-20 win over the PHS girls.

Lakeitha Sampson drained a game-high 26 points in that win, including a quartet of treys, while Lakyn Favre added seven points and Serenity Singleton added a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Lady Tigers have won three straight games and sit 10-5 overall.

Other highlights on Friday’s opening day of action in the Bay High Christmas Tournament include the Gautier-St. Patrick boys game as well as Picayune-Gautier girls contest and the Long Beach-St. Patrick girls game.