In similar Region 4-6A games in Pascagoula, the Hancock Lady Hawks beat the Pascagoula Lady Panthers 45-18 on Friday night while the Pascagoula boys won 55-32 against Hancock.
In the girls game, Pascagoula stood toe-to-toe in the first quarter as much as anyone has with the undefeated and 228 Sports No. 2-ranked Lady Hawks.
Even with the Lady Panthers’ valiant effort, which featured a 3-pointer by Samiyah Johnson, they still trailed 9-5 in the first. Hancock scored all nine points on three treys, with Brooklyn Cuevas hitting two and Jordan Bishop adding one.
Pascagoula coach Lakeia Westerfield lauded her girls’ effort.
“I was proud of their effort and intensity,” she said. “We had a couple of missed assignments and too many turnovers, but we definitely played hard. I told them just to keep shooting and they would fall eventually.”
Unfortunately for the Lady Panthers, the baskets started falling for Hancock in the second quarter as five different Lady Hawks scored in the quarter. Hancock outscored Pascagoula 17-7 to take a 26-12 halftime lead.
“Pascagoula played hard and tried to match us physically, which took us out of rhythm offensively, so credit to them,” said Hancock coach Jamie Cisco, whose team played man-to-man most of the night. “Everything we do with our team and basketball program starts and ends with being tough and physical on the defensive end.”
Hancock’s Anslee James led all scorers with 14 points, Cuevas had 11 and Bishop added nine.
The Lady Hawks improved to 12-0 overall and 3-0 in the region. They will face Harrison Central (10-1) on Saturday in Perkinston.
Kailyn Hyde led the Lady Panthers team with six points. Pascagoula fell to 4-5 and 2-1 and will play at Bay High on Saturday.
In the boys game, the Panthers knocked in baskets early and often as they finished the first quarter with a 21-4 lead. Blake Nettles led Pascagoula with seven points in the quarter.
The Panthers never looked back and cruised to the 23-point win.
“We wanted to come out and establish an aggressive style of play early to see if they could handle the pressure,” said Pascagoula coach Lorenzo Wright, whose team is No. 1 in the state in 6A and the 228 Sports poll and No. 4 overall. “We were fortunate enough to do that early and pick up easy baskets.”
The Panthers’ relentless defense made it extremely difficult for Hancock to get anything going.
“Credit Pascagoula as they are a very good team,” said Hancock coach Conner Entriken. “They came out, punched us in the mouth and it took us too long to recover. This is the most adversity our team has encountered this season and I’m looking forward to how we handle it as a team.”
The Panthers scored 16 points in the second quarter to extend their lead to 37-14 at halftime.
Wright put some younger players in for the second half and Hancock tied the Panthers in the half with 18 points.
Nettles finished with 15 points and became the fourth different leading scorer in four straight games for the Panthers. Tylan Wilson added 10.
Pascagoula moved to 10-1 overall and 3-0 in the region and will face Bay High on Saturday.
Jaxson Knight and Donte Taylor each had six points to lead Hancock, which fell to 5-9 and 1-3. The Panthers will play St. Stanislaus on Saturday.
