CLINTON — ‘Cat Fight III will be for all the Region 23 marbles plus a berth in the NJCAA National Tournament set for March 17-22 in Hutchinson, Kan.

The No. 1-seeded Jones County Bobcats will take on the No. 6 Pearl River Wildcats at 8 p.m. Saturday for the men’s championship here in Region 23 Tournament action underway in A.E. Wood Coliseum on the Mississippi College campus, marking the third time the two teams have battled this season. JCJC, which won both previous regular-season match ups (72-69 Jan. 23 in Poplarville and 66-54 Feb. 17 in Ellisville), eliminated No. 5 East Mississippi to get to the title bout when Johnny Zuppardo banked a buzzer-beating trey to take a 73-72 win, while The River zapped No. 7 Northwest Mississippi 84-77 in Friday’s semi-final nightcap game.

PRCC improved to 18-7 with its win, while 19th-ranked JCJC is now 22-6.

A full report on the title tilt will appear in Tuesday’s print edition.