The high school basketball postseason rolls on as we enter the meat of February, and a host of local teams are looking to manufacture magical postseason runs over the coming weeks.
At the public-school level, respective district tournaments are being held this week.
In Summit, North Pike will be hosting its Region Three 5A tournament, with games taking place Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
The third-seeded Lady Jaguars will face sixth-seeded Natchez at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, and they would face No. 2 Brookhaven with a win.
In addition, the fourth-seeded boys team is set to battle fifth-seeded Laurel at 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday, a squad it beat by a score of 64-54 on Jan. 30. With a win, the Jaguars would take on No. 1 Natchez at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday.
Elsewhere, McComb and South Pike are both venturing to Columbia for their Region Seven 4A district tournament.
The fifth-seeded Lady Tigers are set to battle fourth-seeded Poplarville at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, and they would face No. 1 Lawrence County on Thursday with a positive result. McComb's girls team fell to the Lady Hornets 51-38 last Tuesday.
The fourth-seeded McComb boys team will battle fifth-seeded Poplarville at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, and if they win, the Tigers would meet No. 1 Columbia on Thursday. The Tigers took down the Hornets by a score of 68-40 last Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the second-seeded Lady Eagles are facing third-seeded Columbia at 3 p.m. on Thursday, and they would take on whoever emerges from the Lawrence County vs. McComb/Poplarville matchup. SP just took down the Lady Wildcats 52-51 on Friday thanks to a pair of game-winning free throws from senior Samiya Lowery in overtime.
And lastly for the public schools, the second-seeded South Pike boys will battle third-seeded Lawrence County at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, and a win would see them face the victor of the No. 1 Columbia vs. McComb/Poplarville matchup.
From Parklane, the Lady Pioneers are taking part in the 4A D-I bracket after they finished as runners-up in the 4A South-State Tournament last week.
Vicki Rutland's team took down Silliman Institute and Jackson Prep by a combined margin of 115-79 before falling to Simpson Academy by a score of 43-36 in Saturday's title bout. Guards Carlyle Carruth, Zoe Alford and Lay Jackson were named to the 4A South-State All-Tournament team.
Now, Parklane enters the 4A bracket as the No. 2 seed out of the South, which sees them match up with No. 1 East Rankin out of the North. That semifinal game is set for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off on Wednesday from Jackson Prep, and a win would see the Lady Pioneers compete in the championship game at 2:15 p.m. on Saturday.
No. 1 Simpson Academy and No. 2 Pillow Academy make up the other side of the bracket.
In addition, the sixth-seeded Parklane boys team will take part in the 4A D-III tournament after bowing out in the opening round of the South-State Tournament. Alex Ainsworth's side will face fifth-seeded Heritage Academy at 5:15 p.m. on Monday from Jackson Prep, and a win would propel the Pioneers to the championship game at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
No. 5 Copiah Academy and No. 6 Starkville Academy make up the bottom half of the bracket.
