By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

LONG BEACH — Both Hancock High squads got back on the winning track Tuesday night by sweeping Long Beach in a pair of Region 4-6A games.
The Hancock girls bounced back from their first loss of the season with a commanding 54-24 win as they moved to 18-1 on the season. The Hancock boys, meanwhile, took down the Bearcats with a 60-46 decision.

In the girls’ game, the home team actually jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead mid-way through the first period before the Lady Hawks reeled off an 8-0 run to take a 10-7 lead entering the second stanza. Riley Bishop was the main culprit for HHS in that span, as she tallied seven points in the period including a 3-pointer.
The Lady Bearcats remained close as the second stanza began, cutting the definition by one at 11-9 at the 5:20 mark before it was Hancock’s turn to make another run.
This time, the Lady Hawks got seven points from Cambria Necaise including a 3-pointer and Bishop also nailed another trey during Hancock’s 14-2 run to end the period and basically put the game out of reach.

If Long Beach harbored any hopes of a second half comeback, Lady Hawks Brooklyn Cuevas and Emmi Madere thwarted those thoughts as the duo combined for 15 points in the period. Madere scored eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Cuevas put in seven points including a 3-pointer of her own as Hancock rolled up a 47-15 advantage after three quarters.
Bishop led the way for Hancock with 12 points in the win, while Necaise added 10 points to the winning effort. Madere finished with those eight third frame points, as did the recent William Carey signee Cuevas with her seven.

“Proud of our team for fighting through a rough start and really playing well.,” Hancock head coach Jamie Sisco said. “We had a couple of other girls step up and score the ball tonight than we normally do in Emmi and Cam and that helped.”
Shania Hope rang up a game-high 17 points to lead Long Beach, including a 3-pointer.
Hancock remained atop the Region 4-6A standings with a perfect 5-0 mark, while Long Beach is 7-10 overall and 1-3 in league play.
The Lady Hawks were coming off their first loss of the season on Saturday when they fell to perennial Class 7A Alabama state power Hoover High 44-41 at the prestigious “Tangle on the Trail” Tournament after opening the season with 17 consecutive wins.

“We played a tough physical Hoover team on Saturday so we played a little hungover from that game. “Cisco concluded. “But as we settled in, we slowly took over the game. My hat is off to Long Beach’s new coach (Jermile Fluker), I thought he had his team super prepared and playing hard.”

Also on Saturday, the Hancock boys dropped a close decision to another perennial state power when they lost to defending Class 5A state champion Hattiesburg 59-52 in Pascagoula at the annual Raising Canes Panthers Classic.
But the Hawks did their own bouncing back with the 14-point win over the Bearcats in the nightcap.
With the win, Hancock moved back above the .500 level in Hawk alum Conner Entrekin’s first year at the helm as HHS stands 11-10 overall and 2-3 in league play. Long Beach is now 4-15 overall and 0-4 in league action.
The Hawks jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead and took their largest lead of the first half at nine points when Mike Washington nailed a 3-pointer to make it 14-5.

After the Bearcats cut the deficit to 14-8 on a basket by Andre Windham to open the second period, Hancock began to take control. The Hawks went on a 15-4 run to close the quarter, thanks to 3-pointers from Washington, Kaiser Koenenn and Donte Taylor to take a 29-14 lead into halftime.
The senior standout Washington drained yet another 3-pointer early in the third frame, and the Hawks got baskets in the lane from both Jaxson Knight and Todd Dedeaux to make it 36-16 and Long Beach never got any closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

Knight led the way for Hancock with 15 points and seven rebounds, while both Washington and Taylor chipped in 15 points apiece to the winning effort. Dedeaux added nine points and six rebounds for HHS.