By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

CLINTON — A quartet of “Southern Six” senior standout prep basketball players will wrap up their high school careers here Saturday afternoon

Four players from four different high schools were selected to represent their home state in the prestigious Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Basketball Classic, one of the biggest honors that can be bestowed on a player annually in the state of Mississippi.

The 2026 games will be played on Saturday, March 14th, here in Clinton at A.E. Wood Coliseum on the campus of Mississippi College.​ The Girls game will tip at Noon, followed at 2 p.m. by the Boys game.

A trio of Dandy Dozen stalwarts from the “Southern Six” were selected for the second game, as Max Baria of St. Stanislaus, Landon Hall of Pass Christian and Blake Nettles of Pascagoula were picked for the roster and will be joined by Gulfport senior standout Morris Robertson. All were picked to be a part of the 13 man squad by a vote of members of The Mississippi Association of Coaches.

No local players were picked to participate in the Ala./Miss. Girls game.

Last year, home-standing Alabama swept a pair of prep basketball games from Mississippi.

The Alabama All-Stars overcame a halftime deficit to capture a 91-85 win in the 35th Annual Alabama/Mississippi Boys All-Star Basketball Classic Saturday afternoon.

The win, at the Mitchell Center on the campus of The University of South Alabama, increased the series lead to 19-16 for Alabama.

Hoover High teammates DeWayne Brown and Salim London combined for 57 points to power Alabama past Mississippi. Brown was selected as the Alabama MVP as he posted a double-double with 27 points and 14 rebounds. Meanwhile, London poured in a game-high 30 points and added 5 rebounds and 2 assists.

The Mississippi All-Stars were paced by Phil Nelson of Ridgeland who was named Mississippi MVP after scoring 16 points, snaring 7 rebounds, and adding 3 assists, 4 steals, and 1 blocked shot. Mike Williams of Germantown led the Magnolia State squad in scoring with 19 points and had 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assists, and 2 blocked shots.

In the girls game, Alabama surged ahead in the third quarter to knock off Mississippi 81-71 in the 35th annual affair.

The win was their eighth in a row for Alabama since 2018 and increased its series lead to 21-14.

Ace Austin of Spring Garden and Kaitlyn Gipson of Hoover tied for the game-high in points with 17 each. Alabama’s Saniya Jackson of Park Crossing added 11 points with 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 blocked shot. Alabama’s Sarah Gordon of Vestavia Hills finished with 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 steal.

Mississippi was paced by Jahanna “JoJo” Wilson of Callaway who scored a team-high 16 points with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals and was named the Mississippi MVP.