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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

The MHSAA State Basketball Tournament is still a couple of months away, but the Mississippi Coliseum will be the site of some big-time high school hoops on Martin Luther King Day.

Three of Jackson’s (and Mississippi’s) top boys teams will play three Louisiana heavyweights in the Battle of the Border at the Big House on Monday, Jan. 19.

At noon, Provine (the defending Class 4A champion and the No. 3 team in the latest Associated Press prep poll) will play Bonnabel (Kenner). At 2 p.m., fifth-ranked Callaway faces University (Baton Rouge). At 4 p.m., top-ranked Lanier plays Denham Springs.

Some of the nation’s top high school players will be on the floor, including:

Lanier’s Monta Ellis (one of nation’s top-ranked juniors) and Charles Rhodes (Mississippi State signee and ranked 57th among nation’s high school seniors by RivalsHoops.com).

Provine’s Charlie White (No. 142 and committed to Mississippi State).

Callaway’s Charles Thomas (Arkansas signee and ranked No. 56 in the nation).

University’s Glen Davis (No. 8 player in the nation and LSU signee).

Bonnabel’s Shan Foster (No. 62 in the nation and Vanderbilt signee).

Denham Springs’ Tasmin Mitchell (nation’s No. 1 junior).

Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for students.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.