By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

(EDITORS NOTE: More photos will be added to the gallery momentarily. Please check back for updates.)

KILN — Just as one might expect when a pair of prep basketball teams enter a match-up with combined records of 32-1, Thursday night’s showdown between two of the top teams in the state of Mississippi certainly lived up to its billing.
The home-standing Hancock Lady Hawks maintained their unbeaten record with a thrilling 43-41 win over Biloxi in Wendell Ladner Gymnasium before a packed house. Hancock led from wire-to-wire in the closely contested affair, as the Lady Hawks moved to 17-0 on the season and the Lady Indians fell to 16-2.
“Great win for our team against a very tough and well coached Biloxi team” Hancock head coach Jamie Sisco said. “Back and forth game, and we were fortunate enough to make enough plays in the fourth quarter.”
Hancock never trailed in the contest, after Cambria Necaise and Taylor Bishop made back-to-back baskets in the opening minute of play.
The Lady Hawks went on to lead 14-10 after one period, thanks a late 3-pointer by Anslee James.
Hancock’s biggest advantage came twice in the early part of the second stanza, once at 20-10 after opening the period on a 6-0 run and then again at 22-12.

But Biloxi was determined to make a game out of it, and that it did. The Lady Indians, behind eight points inside from freshman center Zaniya Johnson, cut the deficit to 22-18 with 40 seconds left but another 3-pointer by James at the buzzer moved the lead 25-18 at halftime.
A trey by Brooklyn Cuevas early in the third frame pushed the Hancock lead to 28-20, but Biloxi went on a 9-4 run to close the period and cut the deficit to just 32-29 entering the fourth quarter.
A Cuevas 3-pointer from deep in the left corner pocket right in front of her own bench made the score 35-29, and then a Bishop basket followed that to give Hancock its largest lead the rest of the way at 37-29.

From that point, Biloxi again battled back and out-scored HHS 12-6 down the stretch but still came up short.
The Lady Indians cut the deficit to the final two-point margin on an old-fashioned three-point play by Kyle Caruso with just over a minute to play and a pair of free throws from Nakenya Terry with 33 seconds left, but Cuevas was able to dribble out the waning seconds without being fouled to seal the win.
“The staple of our team is our defense, and we didn’t defend very well this game,” Biloxi head coach Devin Hill said. “When you give up seven 3-pointers to a team like Hancock, you’re going to lose. I am proud of our fight.”
Bishop led Hancock with 14 points, and James added 12 points for Hancock before leaving the game with an injury with 1:18 to play. Cuevas added 11 points. All three players hit a pair of 3-pointers apiece.

“When Anslee went down with the knee injury I probably should’ve called timeout to reset us mentally,” Cisco added. “But our players fought through the mental part of it and finished strong. Proud of our team, now we must move on to prepare for a very very talented Hoover team on Saturday.”
Johnson paced Biloxi with a game-high 19 points and nine rebounds. No other Lady Indian scored more than five.
“Hancock is a tough place to play, but we will regroup and get ready for a really good South Panola team on Saturday,” Hill concluded.
Both talented teams head to north Mississippi Saturday to compete at the Tangle on the Trail Tournament at Pontotoc High School. Hancock meets Hoover, Ala. at 1:45 and Biloxi faces South Panola at 8 p.m.