By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

Picayune stayed within striking distance of powerful Pascagoula in the Region 4-6A boys’ standings with a close 56-50 win over home-standing Hancock Friday night.
The win pushed Picayune to 6-1 in the region race, just one game behind the Panthers who stand at 7-0 and handed the Maroon Tide their only league a little over a week ago.

Hancock led 17-14 late in the first period, but Picayune freshman Kelton Stewart tallied six straight points to close the quarter and give the lead back to the Maroon Tide.
Stewart converted an old-fashioned three-point play and then at the buzzer to end the quarter he was fouled shooting a 3-pointer and made all free throws to make it 20-17.
Picayune led just slightly, at 26-25, at halftime but then Jackson Knight’s putback three minutes into the second stanza wrapped up a 12-8 Hawk spurt that put the home team up 29-28.
However, Picayune went on a run of its own with eight straight points that ended on a 3-pointer by Niquis Ratcliff and the Maroon Tide went on to lead 41-37 advantage entering the fourth period.
A 3-pointer by Darrell Smith two minutes into the final frame ended a 7-0 spurt and gave Picayune its biggest lead of the night at 48-37.

The Maroon Tide led by double digits at 54-44 with about a minute to play, but Mike Washington’s 3-pointer cut the deficit to 54-50 with 27 seconds left. That would be as close as the Hawks would get, though.
Stewart paced Picayune with 17 points, including nine-of-10 from the free throw line, while Smith and Ratcliff each added nine points apiece to the winning effort.
Picayune moved to 18-6 overall with the win, while the Hawks dropped to 2-5 in the region race and stand 11-12 overall on the season under first-year head coach Conner Entrekin.
The Hawks got 12 points apiece from both Washington and Knight.

Pascagoula remained unbeaten in the loop with an 81-34 thumping of George County on the road in Lucedale Friday night.
In other Region 4-6A action Friday night, West Harrison kept Long Beach win-less in the loop with a 49-31 decision.
The Hurricanes moved to 5-3 in the region race and 13-8 overall with the win.
West Harrison got six points from Kameron Bolden in the first period and six points from Jazear Carter in the second quarter to lead throughout the first half. But thanks to eight first half points from Long Beach’s Wayne Ulrich, including a pair of 3-pointers in the second stanza, the Hurricanes led by just five at 24-19 at halftime.
In the third frame, WHHS got five more points from Carter to stretch their lead to 31-23 entering the fourth period.
In the final period, the Hurricanes secured the win by out-scoring the Bearcats 18-8 to result in the final margin.
Carter topped WHHS with a game-high 15 points, while Bolden chipped in 10 points to the winning effort.
Andre Windham led Long Beach with 11 points while Ulrich added eight points as the Bearcats dropped to 0-7 in league play and 4-18 overall.