By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

PASCAGOULA — The Pascagoula girls delivered first-year head coach Lakia Westerfield a berth in the Class 6A South State playoffs Friday night.
The home-standing Lady Panthers slipped past West Harrison 43-36 to secure the second seed in the upcoming Region 4-6A Tournament and the automatic spot in the first round of the state playoffs as well. 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.

“I’m just proud of the hard work my girls have put in to get us here,” Westerfield said. “We’ve worked hard to change the culture of this team and create our own identity. We continue working everyday and every game to try to get one percent better and I’m excited for them and can’t wait to see how far we go.”
Pascagoula moved to 7-2 in the region race with the win and the Lady Panthers stand 11-9 overall while West Harrison still sits solidly in their place in the league standings at 6-3 and is 11-11 overall.
The visiting Lady “Canes actually led throughout most of the first half Friday night, as Sydnei Barber scored 10 points including a 3-pointer and West Harrison took a 22-16 advantage into halftime. Pascagoula was able to stay within that six point deficit thanks in large part to getting eight points in the second quarter from Massyah Thomas including a pair of 3-pointers.

Pascagoula, however, dominated the second half to pull out the win.
The Lady Panthers out-scored WHHS 11-5 in the third frame, thanks to eight more points from Thomas, as Pascagoula managed to pull into a 27-27 tie entering the final period.
Thomas kept up the solid offensive production as the fourth frame unfolded, adding six more points while teammate Khyliyah Moore added six points of her own as PHS out-scored WHHS 16-9 and steadily pulled away to secure the win.
Thomas poured in a game-high 24 points to pace Pascagoula, while Moore chipped in 10 points apiece to the winning cause.
Barber led the Lady ‘Canes with a game-high 16 points.

Both the Pascagoula and West Harrison girls sit behind league-leading Hancock in the Region 4-6A standings, and the Lady Hawks remained perfect in the loop with a 59-23 thumping of visiting Long Beach on “Senior Night”.
It marked the second straight region win for HHS in as many nights after they secured a Class 6A South State playoff berth of their own with a resounding 52-16 win over home-standing George County Thursday night.
The Lady Hawks now stand 24-1 overall and are 9-0 in league play. Long Beach sits 2-7 in league play and 8-14 overall.
Elsewhere on Friday in Region 4-6A girls’ action, Picayune held on to fourth place in the region race with a 57-40 win over visiting George County. The Lady Tide are now 3-6 in the loop and are 10-16 overall while GCHS remains win-less at 0-9 in the region and is 8-16 overall.