By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

LUCEDALE — Last season, the Hancock girls registered an outstanding 27-1 overall mark in the regular season but failed to make the Class 6A South State playoffs.
This season, after winning their 23rd game of the current campaign Thursday night, the Lady Hawks don’t have to worry about that same scenario again this year.

Hancock dominated home-standing George County 52-16 at Rudolph Sellers Gymnasium. The win was the 50th in the past 54 games for head coach Jamie Sisco’s Lady Hawks, as they now stand 23-1 overall this year and they wrapped up the Region 4-6A top seed in the upcoming league tournament with an 8-0 mark.
With the recent expansion in classifications, the top two seeds in each region not only get a bye in the first round of the league tourney but also automatically qualify for a spot in the opening round of the state playoffs.
“We remembered what happened to us last year and we didn’t want to experience that again, Sisco, now in his eighth season at the helm of the Lady Hawks, said He has led Hancock to the Class 6A South State playoffs in seven of the eight years as head coach, only missing out last season.

“Playoff basketball is what we have been working towards since last April. Our team is battle tested and I can’t wait to coach these girls over the next 6 weeks and see what happens. They have certainly put in the work.”
The Lady Hawks never trailed in the game after Brooklyn Cuevas dropped home a 3-pointer for the first points of the game and Riley Bishop immediately followed that up by converting on an old-fashioned three-point play and Hancock was up 6-0 just a minute into the contest.

Cuevas drained another trey less than a minute later to make it 9-2, and then after consecutive baskets from Bishop and Cambria Necaise suddenly it was 13-2.
Bishop and Cuevas each added another basket, and by the time the quarter came to a close, the Hancock lead was 19-2 as both players had nine points in the opening frame.
As the second stanza unfolded, Cambria Necaise added a pair of free throws for the Lady Hawks and Hancock also got baskets from Bishop and Cuevas as the lead reached 22 points at 25-3 and short of a return to action by Janice Lawrence for George County the die had been cast.

The lead reached 42-3 at halftime.

Bishop scored 13 first half points and Cuevas added 12 points in the first half while Necaise had 10 points in the first half as well. The Hancock starters didn’t see much playing time at all in the second half.
Dekari McNair led the Lady Rebels with six points.

George County drops to 8-15 overall and the Lady Rebels are the only team in the loop without a win as they fall to 0-8.
Thursday’s game was originally scheduled for nine days ago but was postponed due to weather-related issues.
Both teams are right back in region action Friday night, as Hancock return to the Kiln to celebrate “Senior Night” hosting Long Beach while theLady Rebels head in the same direction but a little further north to take on home-standing Picayune.