By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

PASCAGOULA — For the 17th straight January, a veritable plethora of prep basketball teams will converge on Pascagoula High School for a one day hoops event.

The 16th annual “Panther Classic” presented by Raising Cane’s is set for the PHS gym beginning early on Saturday morning. The annual affair started in 2009 as the brainchild of then Panther head coach Keith Robinson and was initially known as the “Chevron Classic”.

Eight games are on tap beginning at 10 a.m., and features six boys’ games and a pair of girls’ contests.

Both the host PHS boys and their female counterparts will take part, as well as six other “Southern Six” squads along with seven other teams from across the state of Mississippi and one team from Mobile, Ala.

“I’m extremely excited about the match-ups this year,’ Panthers head coach Lorenzo Wright said on Monday. “There was an attempt to create a coast vs. us match-ups and I think we did that really well. We also wanted to give basketball fans a playoff preview in some match-ups as well.”

This is the schedule for the day:

Some of the more interesting match-ups include a meeting between reigning Class 7A state champion Meridian and Ocean Springs. The Wildcats, who are coached by former Pascagoula head coach Ron Norman, knocked off the Greyhounds in an exciting 50-46 battle in the Class 7A South State quarterfinal round last season en route to their state title.

That game is followed by a clash between a pair of perennial state powers in Biloxi and Hattiesburg. The Tigers won the Class 5A state championship two years ago. The Indians stand a solid 13-2 this season while Hattiesburg is 12-4.

The host Panthers then take on fellow Class 6A foe West Jones in the final game of the day.

Also, the Resurrection boys are involved in the event for the first time ever and also for the first time there will be two girls games on the day.

“Our event has continued to grow and get better each year because of great partnerships with teams along the coast,” Wright added. “I definitely appreciate each of them for participating we couldn’t do it without them. We’re also excited to add an extra girls team to the day.”

One of the traditions that has continued over the 16 years of the annual affair is the quality of head coaches in the event. Along with Meridian’s Norman, both Hattiesburg’s Ernie Watson and Biloxi’s Seber Windham have all won state championships. In addition, Wright led his Panthers to a school record 29-2 overall record last season and a berth in the overall Class 6A state Final Four, while first-year D’Iberville head coach Eric Vianney led his alma mater Picayune up against Hattiesburg in that Class 5A state championship contest two years ago.