The top attraction of last year’s St. Martin Super Saturday Classic was the Yellow Jackets’ new gym. This year, it’s going to be a number of new coaches at some of the coast’s top high school basketball programs.
The one-day event — now in its third year — features five boys games and one girls game. St. Martin coach Charlie Pavlus said he’s hoping for a strong day of basketball and good crowds.
“Last year, we were shoulder-to-shoulder in there for some games,” Pavlus said. “There’s a lot of new coaches this year, and we hope the anticipation of wanting to be there for that first game will bring a lot of folks in.”
Action begins at noon with the St. Martin girls taking on Gautier, followed by Picayune’s boys vs. Gautier at 1:30 p.m. Vancleave takes on Hancock at 3 p.m., then West Harrison meets St. Stanislaus at 4:30 p.m.
St. Martin takes on arch-rival D’Iberville at 6 p.m., followed by a slam dunk and 3-point contest at 7:30 p.m. The event wraps up with the headliner game, Pascagoula vs. Gulfport at 8 p.m.
“We feel like it’s a really great lineup,” Pavlus said. “We want this to be ‘HoopsFest’ at the beginning of the season. St. Stanislaus has one of the best followings on the coast, and Vancleave is right up the road and they have great fans who travel well. Gautier, Picayune and West Harrison always have a lot of talent, and Pascagoula and Gulfport should be two of the best teams around this year. With all the new coaches and new players, it should be a fun day.”
Four of the teams in the Classic feature new coaches: Hancock (Scott St. Pierre), St. Stanislaus (Ricky Stone), Pascagoula (Tony Combs) and Gulfport (Owen Miller). St. Pierre joins the Hawks from Redeemer Seton High School in New Orleans, replacing Chris Biehl, who left to take the job at De La Salle in New Orleans.
Stone retired from public schools after last season, moving from the Admirals to replace Jay Ladner (who took the Oak Grove job) with the two-time defending state champion Rock-a-chaws. Miller left Andy Kennedy’s Ole Miss staff to take over at his alma mater.
Combs moved up from Colmer Middle School to replace the retired Keith Robinson (now at St. Patrick) with the Panthers. Although three Pascagoula starters — guards Cordaryl Weathersby and Paul Plainer and forward Brandon Rich — will not suit up Saturday because they are still playing for the Panthers football team, Combs said he’s eager to get his team out on the court.
“I’m looking forward to it,” said Combs, who coached at Theodore (Ala.) High School for more than 25 years before taking the Colmer job four years ago. “We’re ready to play. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Gulfport and we’re looking forward to the challenge. We’ll go over there with what we’ve got and represent Pascagoula well. We’re not going to make any excuses.”
The Classic features a number of the area’s top players, including St. Stanislaus’ Malcolm Reid, Pascagoula’s LaDarron Johnson and Tracy Hadley, Vancleave’s Jerry McCorvey, Gautier’s Tevin Broyles and Gulfport’s Jeremy Holliman. Pavlus said another player to watch is Gulfport freshman point guard Jashire Hardnett, who already has videos of his middle school exploits on YouTube.
St. Martin lost three starters from last year, including big man Jyrus Carriere, who is now at Pearl River Community College. The Yellow Jackets return seniors Nick Fairley (18.6 points per game in 2010-11) and Ricky Kelly, who is healed after missing the end of last season due to injuries suffered in a car accident.
“This will be my first game without Jyrus,” said Pavlus, entering his fourth year with the Yellow Jackets. “Losing a guy who could get you 15 rebounds in a game is the biggest hole to fill for us.”
(Source http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-sports/2011/11/prep_basketball_tips_off_at_st.html)
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