By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

PASCAGOULA — Road wins by both the Pascagoula and Picayune boys on Tuesday night have set up a battle royale for the top spot in Region 4-6A coming up Friday night in the Panther den.
Both the Maroon Tide and PHS stand at 4-0 in league play, Picayune slipped past George County 51-48 and Pascagoula pounded West Harrison 67-38.
The win was the 17th straight for the Panthers, as they now stand 17-1. The winning streak is the longest for Pascagoula during current head coach Lorenzo Wright’s tenure, and is the longest for PHS in a decade when they won 18 consecutive contests en route to advancing to the overall state semifinals.
“Friday against Picayune is going to be a great matchup,”Wright, in his seventh season at the helm of the Panthers, said. “The winner takes control of the district after the first round of play.”

Friday’s contest does indeed mark the halfway point in the 10 game region slate. Pascagoula got to this point with a commanding win over the home-standing Hurricanes in their latest outing.
The Panthers jumped out to a quick double-digit lead after the first quarter at 16-6 and wasted no time in extending that advantage as the second quarter unfolded by out-scoring the home team 24-11 in the period and taking an insurmountable 40-17 advantage into halftime.

Kelan Rich scored nine p0ints in the game-deciding first half for Pascagoula, including six in that impressive first quarter start. Markeuse Grady and Blake Nettles added seven points apiece in the opening half, while Justin Roque came off the bench to drop in a pair of 3-pointers.
The wins continued to blow against the Hurricanes as the third quarter tipped off, as Rich hit a pair of 3-pointers to continue Pascagoula’s onslaught.
“Very pleased with the effort tonight compared to the last game,” Wright added. “The guys came out with great energy and were focused from the start.”

Rich finished with 15 points and six assists, while Grady added 11 and Roque 10 points to the winning effort while Nettles and Cle’Darius Ross each had nine points. Chris North had five rebounds.
Owen Reese paced West Harrison with a game-high 18 points in the loss. The Hurricanes are 10-7 overall and 3-2 in league play.

Meanwhile, Tuesday night in Lucedale at Rudolph Sellers Gym, George County’s Deuce Knight just missed a game-ending 3-point attempt and Picayune escaped with the 3-point win after leading by as many as 12 points in the third quarter.
The Maroon Tide led 25-18 at halftime and then had that 12-point before leading by seven again at 39-32 to begin the fourth frame. With Picayune up 51-45, Marlin Odom’s 3-pointer with one minute to play resulted in the final margin before Knight missed his shot as the final horn sounded.

Picayune moved to 16-5 overall with the win, and remained tied with Pascagoula in the region race. The Maroon Tide got a game-high 16 points from Dakeith Quinn, while freshman Kelton Stewart added 14 points and Brunson Stockstill had eight.
The win snapped a brief two-game losing streak for Picayune, as they were coming off a 66-48 setback to Presbyterian Christian Friday night after falling in the tourney finals of the Hannan Hustle. Keith poured in a game-high 25 points in that game, while Stewart added 15 points.
Breen Moody led George County in the loss to Picayune with 11 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Jaylen Cowan added 10 points and Knight nine as the Rebels fell to 4-15 overall and 0-4 in league play.