By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

BILOXI — The eighth annual “Lady Indians Holiday Classic” is set to tip-off bright and early Friday morning here on the campus of Biloxi High School.

The two-day, 24 team event will wrap up on Saturday. Both the host Lady Indians and Indians will compete, as the unbeaten Biloxi girls will play both days while the BHS boys will just see action on Friday in the only boys contest of the 13 game affair.

The 22 girls team competing represent four different states, with Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida squads all in the the fray. Like Biloxi, both the Greene County boys and girls teams from Eutaw, Ala., will participate. Games will be played concurrently at both Biloxi High School and Biloxi Junior High, which sit adjacent to one another.

The event is the mastermind of Biloxi head girls coach Devin Hill.

“We feel like we have some really good teams in our event this year,” Hill said Thursday afternoon. “We have top teams from Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida participating, along with a lot of our local schools. This event has grown tremendously over the years. We have had some really good match-ups in past events, and this year is no different.”

First up for the unbeaten Biloxi girls team is a match-up with one of the top teams in the state of Alabama, as the 14-0 Lady Indians face Montgomery Park Crossing Friday night in the marquee match-up at 6:00 p.m.

The Lady Thunderbirds, who sit at 18-0, are ranked as the number one Class 6A team in Alabama in the most recent poll by the Alabama Sports Writers Association.

Park Crossing ascended to the top spot in the poll after knocking off seven-time defending Class 6A champion Hazel Green 46-42 to pick up a key win earlier this season in the Hazel Green Tip-Off Tournament. The loss snapped a 16-game win streak for the host Trojans.

It marked the first time since Dec. 14, 2017, that Hazel Green is not the No. 1 team in Class 6A girls. The seven-time defending champion Trojans had been ranked atop Class 6A for 40 previous polls.

The Lady Indians will then face another Alabama foe in Hewitt-Trussville Saturday night, which is 12-4 overall and ranked seventh in the latest AWSA Class 7A Poll.

“We will square off with possibly the toughest team we have played all year in Park Crossing on day one, and then we will play Alabama powerhouse Hewitt-Trussville on day two.” Hill added. “We always want to test ourselves with the best competition when we host an event. Win or lose, we will definitely be tested. I am excited to see how our girls respond. I am also excited to host a plethora of talented girls’ teams across our region. It’s going to be a great two days of hoops.”

Three other “Southern Six” squads are also involved in the event, in Pascagoula, Ocean Springs and D’Iberville.