It was an intense Class 6A game Friday night in the first round of the girls basketball playoffs, with the Hattiesburg Lady Tigers defeating the Pascagoula Lady Panthers 50-45 in Pascagoula.
Both teams struggled to score in the first quarter, but it looked like Hattiesburg had the upper hand.
Pascagoula coach Lakia Westerfield, as she has done all year in her first season, encouraged her girls to get after it and play defense and they responded with a strong second quarter.
“We competed,” she said about the Lady Panthers’ rallies in the second and later in the game when Pascagoula came back from a nine-point deficit. “I am proud the girls continued to work no matter the score.”
Pascagoula took a 22-17 lead into halftime, led by freshman Massyah Thomas’ 10 points, which included two 3-pointers.
But Westerfield said too many mistakes allowed Hattiesburg to take the lead in the third quarter and they never relinquished it.
“Too many turnovers have been our Achilles heel all season long and it cost us tonight,” she said about her team, which finished second in Region 4-6A.
Hattiesburg rallied strongly in the third quarter, which was riddled with fouls by both teams. With the new Mississippi high school rules of five fouls per quarter leading to two free throws, both teams were in the bonus about midway through the eight-minute quarter.
Pascagoula was 6 of 10 in the quarter, with junior Khyliyah Moore making 4 of 6, and Hattiesburg was 4 of 8 with Laila Esters hitting 4 of 4. But turnovers led to baskets for the Lady Tigers as they scored 22 points in the quarter for their nine-point lead.
Pascagoula used a full-court press and stingy defense to force turnovers and cut the lead to four in the fourth quarter, but Hattiesburg made a few more shots down the stretch to come out with the win.
Thomas led all scorers with 19 points. Senior Kailyn Hyde had 12 points for Pascagoula in her final game as a Lady Panther and Moore had nine.
Alaysia Jordan’s 15 points led Hattiesburg, Esters finished with 13 and Tameia Ford scored 10, including a 3-pointer with under a minute to go to put the game out of reach.
The Lady Tigers will take on Terry on Feb. 23 at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College gym in Perkinston at 3 p.m.
Pascagoula’s season ended with the loss, but Westerfield still beamed with pride looking back at the season.
“Tonight didn’t go as planned, but I’m proud nonetheless,” she said. “To witness the growth and improvement we’ve had this season has been a blessing. We’ve been down to seven players a, few nights and we still competed. That’s all I asked of them to do no matter what, compete! And I think we did that, so I can’t even be mad. We have a lot of things to work on this offseason, but I’m proud of my girls and I’m looking forward to them getting even better.”
