By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

JACKSON — Pascagoula will face Ridgeland in boys basketball for the third time in exactly one year Tuesday afternoon.

And for the second time in that trio of meetings, the stakes are high for both teams.

The Panthers face the Titans in the overall Class 6A Final Four at The Mississippi Coliseum here in this Capital City at 1:30 with a berth in the title tilt on the line. Thursday marks one year to the day that Ridgeland stunned Pascagoula in this same round in this same venue, taking a 48-42 upset win that snapped the school record 29 game win streak for PHS.

Pascagoula comes into the big showdown in the “Big House” at 25-3 overall, while RHS stands at 28-4. The Panthers earned a small measure of revenge earlier this season nipping the Titans 60-58 in the annual “The Jump” affair an early season event at Madison Central High School.

“Each team has gotten better so what happened at the beginning of the season doesn’t have any impact on what will happen on Thursday,” PHS head coach Lorenzo Wright said, Wednesday afternoon after the Panthers concluded practice. “Both teams know and understand what is at stake, a trip to the championship is on the line. It’s a great feeling to be back in the same position (final four).”

In that close win, PHS junior all-star guard Blake Nettles poured in a game-high 25 points, while Quey’Sean Taylor posted a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds and Panther senior standout all-star Kelan Rich dished out four assists.

Both Rich and Nettles were in the starting line-up last season for PHS in the Final Four as well, while Taylor is new in the red and blue this season after transferring across Jefferson Street from arch-rival Moss Point.

Last season in this match-up, Ridgeland displayed a stellar defensive approach and knocked off heavily favored and top-ranked Pascagoula by six. Wright’s Panthers were the prohibitive favorite to claim the first-ever crown in school history on the hardwood as well as become the first-ever basketball teams of any type from Jackson County to win a Gold Ball coming into the Overall State Tournament last year.

Instead, Olive Branch wore the Class 6A crown, slipping past Ridgeland 59-56 in the championship game.

“There’s 28 teams within 6A that would love to be in this position so we are grateful,” Wright continued.

Both teams have had little competition so far in the playoffs, as Ridgeland has def. Lake Cormorant 84-62 and Warren Central 56-41. Pascagoula has thumped Pearl River Central 66-32 and Terry 59-37.

The Titans are led by senior guard Phil Nelson, who was recently named Class 6A “Mr. Basketball” in the state. In the 84-62 win over Lake Cormorant, Nelson scored 31 points while shooting 50 percent from the field. That was also his third 30-plus point game of the season.

An Itawamba Community College commit, Nelson averages 21 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. He was a 2024-25 Clarion Ledger Dandy Dozen selection. He poured in a game-high 24 points as Ridgeland toppled Biloxi 54-45 last month in game four of the prestigious “Rumble in the South” MLK Day event at A.E. Wood Coliseum on the campus of Mississippi College.

Biloxi qualified for the overall Class 7A Final Four before losing to top-ranked Germantown Monday.

Wright called Nelson “By far the best player we faced this season”.

Pascagoula has made it to the state championship game just once in school history, that coming 48 years ago in 1977 when the Panthers fell to Florence.

“It continues to be a one game at a time situation, most important game of the season approach regardless of who we are playing.” Wright concluded. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”