2018 Panther Classic Preview

Even with the wave of Thanksgiving and Christmas high school basketball tournaments now behind us, the Gulf Coast never seems to run out of hardwood classics. This weekend it is Pascagoula’s turn.
On Saturday, the Panthers will be hosting the Panther 2018 Classic featuring seven games starting at 11:30 a.m. It’s an all-boys shootout minus an early game for the Lady Panthers with the Pascagoula boys rounding out the nightcap against Oak Grove.
Other local schools include Gulfport, D’Iberville, George County, West Harrison, Gautier, Bay High and Pass Christian to go along with a nice sprinkling of Pine Belt teams.
As usual, the hometown Panthers will serve as the main event. Pascagoula Head Boys Basketball Coach Lorenzo Wright said, “It’s a lot more fun to do it that way. You don’t want to be hosting a tournament and you’re not really that good, but year in and year out we’re usually good every year, so that’s another reason why we have a good ability to draw a pretty good team. We’re constantly playing the Gulfports and the Biloxis and the Harrison Centrals, I mean to play a team such as Oak Grove gives us another look of what the state has and another opportunity to get better.”
Wright says the Panther Classic is an annual event dating back about 15 years.
Here’s the schedule for Saturday:
11:30 a.m.- Gautier vs. Quitman
1:00 p.m. – Pascagoula vs. Quitman (girls)
2:30 p.m. – George Co. vs. Pass Christian
4:00 p.m. – D’Iberville vs. Perry Central
5:30 p.m. – Gulfport vs. Bay High
7:00 p.m. – West Harrison vs. Hattiesburg
8:30 p.m. – Pascagoula vs. Oak Grove