By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

KILN — The Hancock girls’ basketball team stands an impressive 21-1 overall for the second consecutive season.
The Lady Hawks, however, are aiming to make sure this flourishing campaign ends on a much happier note than the last one did.
Head coach Jamie Sisco’s squad enters the homestretch of the regular season this week, starting with a three-game in four-day span Tuesday night that will ultimately reach four games in a week to close out the Region 4-6A portion of their schedule.
Hancock sits all alone in first place in the region race at 6-0, a half-game ahead of Pascagoula which checks in at 6-1. The Lady Hawks begin their busy season-closing slate by hosting those Lady Panthers Tuesday night.
Last season, Hancock ended the regular season at 27-1 but missed out on a state playoff berth after the injury-riddled Lady Hawks dropped two straight hard-fought decisions in the Region 4-6A Tournament to see their season come to a disappointing halt with a sudden thump.

“Our entire team knows exactly how our season ended last year, and we’ve accepted it and owned it as both coaches and players,” Sisco, in his seventh season at the helm of Hancock, said. “We’re determined as a team to not let it happen again. Our goal as a team is to win one game at a time and we have a goal of winning the state championship.”
Another similarity this season for HHS is the loss of a key starter mid-way through the season. Last year, William Carey signee Jenna Garriga injured her knee just after Christmas after seeing action in 17 games and was lost for the remainder of her senior season.
A little less than three weeks ago, versatile junior standout Anslee James suffered a similar injury with less than two minutes to play in an exciting 43-41 win over perennial power Biloxi in the 17th straight victory for HHS.
James is also out for the rest of the year.
“I’m so proud of the way everyone has stepped up after losing Anslee,” Sisco added. “She was a big part of this team, but the entire team has responded so well. In the last three games, we’ve had three players in double figures. Every one knows their role and has done everything we as coaches have asked of them.”

The home game against Pascagoula Tuesday night begins a stretch of four straight region games in the next seven days, as Hancock travels to Lucedale to face George County Thursday night before returning home for Senior Night Friday against Long Beach. League play wraps up in one week when the Lady Hawks head to West Harrison.
Hancock took the top seed in Region 4-6A last year with the same 6-0 mark it possesses this season. However, with recent expansion by the MHSAA to a seventh classification this year, regions went from an alignment of four teams in a region to six, meaning four more league encounters.
“I don’t think playing more region games will matter,” Cisco, who also serves as Hancock High’s Athletics Director, said. “I mean everyone has to do it and it’s new for everyone, you just have to adjust to it and keep up the pace for a few more games.”
However, the expansion also brought changes to the postseason format as well, meaning two more wins would ensure the Lady Hawks of an opening-round bye in the upcoming region tournament as a top-two seed which guarantees an automatic playoff berth.
So Hancock, which has won 48 out of its last 52 games, can clinch a Class 6A South State playoff for the sixth time in seven years under Sisco with wins at home Tuesday night and in Lucedale Thursday.

Hancock has relied on yet another William Carey signee this season, as senior standout Brooklyn Cuevas is leading the team in scoring for the second straight season. She is averaging 16 points per game but has hit the 20-point mark the last three contests including 28 points with six 3-pointers in a 66-32 win over Davidson nine days ago.
Cuevas picked up her play immensely last season after Garriga went down and has carried that success over into her senior season this year. She was recently selected to play for the Mississippi Team in the prestigious Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Basketball Classic.
Surrounding Cuevas is a formidable supporting cast featuring Talana Bond and Cambria Necaise in the backcourt along with Riley Bishop and Emmi Madere down low and Abigail Carver has been the first option off the bench. All are juniors except for Cuevas and Madere who are in their final seasons.
Bond and James were selected to play in the upcoming Mississippi North/South All-Star game.
“We know what’s a stake the rest of the way,” Sisco concluded. “We had a great year last season but it certainly didn’t feel that way at the end of it. We don’t want to experience that again.”