By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

LYMAN — It had been over three years since Pascagoula beat Gulfport in a boy’s basketball game.

However, all of that changed late Saturday afternoon.

The Panthers pounded the Admirals 76-53 in the final game of “HoopsFest 2025” here at Harrison Central High School. The game pitted the two top teams in the “Southern Six”, as Pascagoula moved to 18-3 overall and handed Gulfport just its second loss in 25 outings this season.

“Great team win against a great ball club,” PHS head coach Lorenzo Wright, a former Admiral standout, said. “It was a playoff atmosphere, one versus two doesn’t get any better than that.”

Both teams got off to a bit of a slow start as the Panthers led just 11-10 at the end of the first period as Kelan Rich dropped in a pair of 3-pointers for PHS.

But both teams heated up offensively as the second stanza unfolded, with Rich adding nine more points including his third trey of the game and his teammate Blake Nettles matching that point total with a triple of his own and the Panthers slowly stretched their lead to 38-30 entering the locker room for halftime.

Gulfport’s Morris Robertson, Jr. kept the Admirals within striking distance as he tallied nine points in the first half with seven of those in the second quarter including his own 3-pointer in that total also.

Rich continued his impressive work around the basket in the third frame and quickly laid to rest any hopes Gulfport had of a second half comeback, as he rattled in nine more points in the period including his fourth trey of the contest, helping his Panthers to their first double digit advantage of the game at 58-45 entering to final period.

Just for good measure, Nettles put in five points for the Panthers down the stretch and Rich matched that total including his fifth triple of the day as PHS cruised to the win.

“Hat goes off to Pascagoula. They played very well,” first-year Gulfport head coach Brian Butler, whose team sits at a solid 23-2 overall, said. “We’re just going to roll our sleeves up and get back to work on district play. Our job isn’t done yet.”

Rich, who was the only “Southern Six” standout selected to play in the prestigious Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Basketball Classic recently, poured in a a game-high 29 points for the Panthers while Nettles chipped in 14 points to the winning effort also.

“We enjoyed it, we have to stay focused on getting the #1 seed and securing a playoff spot this week.” Wright added.

Robertson had 13 points to lead the Admirals, while Markell Simmons added 12 points and Travor Frost had 11 points.

The two teams didn’t meet on the hardwood last season, and prior to that two seasons ago Gulfport swept PHS in three games. The last Panther win in the series came the week of Thanksgiving of 2022.