By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

POPLARVILLE — It was already gonna be a late night for the Pascagoula boy’s basketball team Wednesday here at Marvin White Coliseum on the campus of Pearl River Community College as the Class 6A South State Quarterfinal round got underway.
Then, quite quickly, it got later.
With the Panthers originally scheduled to gace Jackson Jim Hill in the fourth and final game of the day at 8:30 p.m., the first two games went to overtime as the West Jones girls nipped Terry and the Terry Boys slipped past Hancock.
So, it was almost exactly one hour, at 9:27 p.m., Poplarville, Miss., time, when the Panthers and Tigers tipped things off.

And after a sluggish first half and some anxious moments in the third quarter, Pascagoula’s recently deemed “Class 6A Mr. basketball” in the state of Missiissppi showed why he will be bestowed with that very award at a banquet soon as he completely took control of the contest and poured in 25 of his game-high 28 points in the second half.
In the process, Nettles played a key role as Pascagoula used an 11-0 run from late in the third period until almost mid-way through the fourth period to erase a six point deficit and roll to a big 74-60 win and punch its ticket to the Class 6A overall Final Four for the third straight season.
“The heart these guys showed tonight made me blessed to be a part of their journey,” veteran PHS head coach Lorenzo Wright said.

Wright’s crew is now 26-6 overall, and has won 16 straight games including every contest this year since the calendar flipped over to 2026.
Jim Hill’s Cameron Mayes opened the second half with three straight treys to help his Tigers jump in front, by as many as six, at 50-44, at one point.
Nettles, though, after scoring only three points in the first half, took matters into his own hands and ended the quarter with back-to-back baskets inside the lane and the teams went to the final period with the Tigers up 50-48.
However, he wasn’t done. He scored the first two baskets of the fourth frame as well, and that Panther spurt reached 11-0 with just over four minutes to play, propelling Pascagoula to a 57-50 lead.

Nettles was a man among boys down the stretch, making shots from all angles all across the board and basically putting his Panthers on his back on his way back to The Big House in Jackson again.
“He’s a three-year starter, and he’s been through all the battles.” Wright added. “He willed us to the win.”
Pascagoula will face Jackson Callaway at 1:30 p.m., Monday afternoon in the overall Class 6A Final Four round at The Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.
“We have to remain focused,” Wright concluded. “We have a tough Callaway team on Monday.”