By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

Both the West Harrison and George County boys picked up Region 4-6A wins Friday night, as the other five teams in the league try and stay close to powerful Pascagoula as the second half of the region schedule begins this week.
With the Panthers handing now second-place Picayune its first league loss of the season, the Hurricanes of WHHS went on the road and took down home-standing Hancock 43-40 to move to 4-2 overall in the region race.

The Hawks led 20-26 entering the fourth quarter, but West Harrison got six points from Julian Smith and five points each from Owen Reese and Kameron Bolden in the final frame and outscored Hancock 17-10 down the stretch to pull out the win.
Reese paced WHHS with a co-game-high 13 points in the win, while Javon McCaleb chipped in 11 points to the winning effort and Bolden added nine points. The Hurricanes moved to 12-7 overall with the win and secured a regular season sweep of Hancock after a 36-29 win the second week of November.

For Hancock, Mike Washington matched Reese’s 13 points, while Jude Ulrich added 11 points and Todd Dedeux had eight points as the Hawks dropped to 2-4 in region play and at an even 11-11 overall.
Also, something had to give in Long Beach Friday night as visiting George County faced the Bearcats. After all, both squads came in at 0-4 in league play.
It would be the Rebels that would crack that goose egg, posting a 67-57 win over Long Beach to get their first region win of the season and move to 1-4 while the Bearcats are now 0-5.

Kaleb Bradley posted 19 points to lead George County, before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Marlin Odom chipped in 14 points to the winning effort, while Brenn Moody added 12 points and Deuce Knight 11 points for the Rebels who are now 5-13 overall.
For Long Beach, Wayne Ulrich tallied a game-high 23 points before fouling out in the final frame as well. The Bearcats stand 4-16 overall.
Pascagoula, which punched Picayune 59-43 Friday night to remain in sole possession of first place at 5-0, travels to Long Beach Tuesday night to tip off the second half of the league schedule. Also on Tuesday, Hancock heads to Lucedale to face George County and West Harrison travels to Picayune. The Marron Tide still holds down the second spot in the region race at 4-1.