By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

BILOXI — Not that they don’t already, but the four basketball teams at St. Martin and D’Iberville will get to know each other very well over the next few days.

That’s because both the Yellow Jackets and Warriors as well as the Lady Jackets and Lady Warriors will each face one another in back-to-back games over a four day span Friday and then again on Monday.

First up is the regular season and Region 4-7A finales for all four teams in D’Iberville Friday night.

Then, on Monday, the teams will meet again in the opening round of the league tournament at Bert Jenkins Gym in Gulfport.

“Number one, D’Iberville is a rivalry game so you don’t have to say a lot to get the guys ready to play,” SMHS veteran boys head coach Charlie Pavlus said Friday afternoon. “Number two, Friday’s game ultimately decides who is the four seed or five seed for next week’s tournament. Although both teams want to win tonight, Monday’s game is the most important game of the season. It’s win or go home, it’s win and you qualify for the state playoffs, or it’s lose and the next day you’re saying goodbye to your seniors and starting the process of getting ready for summer 2025. Tonight’s game however, can provide a little extra momentum headed into Monday. I pray that both teams remain healthy tonight and we put on a good show for both of our communities.”

Both the Yellow Jackets and Warriors are coming off of much different results in their latest outings both against Harrison Central in league action.

On Wednesday night, St. Martin celebrated “Senior Night” with a 58-52 win over the Red Rebels. Senior point guard Jax Walker poured in a game-high 23 points for the Yellow Jackets, while R.J. Keys chipped in 14 points to the winning effort.

Shaun Murray got 13 points and six rebounds for HCHS, while Nehemiah Barnett added 12 points for the Red Rebels.

Then, on Thursday night, Harrison Central slipped past D’Iberville 54-50 to give the Red Rebels their first region win of the season.

Murray recorded a double-double in that game, with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Jordan Beard added 14 points and Jasen Pace had nine points.

The same situation plays out on the girls’ side of the ledger as well, as both SMHS and DHS will finish as the fourth and fifth seeds no matter the outcome of Friday’s game and will face off Monday as well.

“Honestly we are not focused on our opponent at this time we are just trying to make sure we are executing and playing hard,” SMHS girls’ head coach Jason Kennedy said.