By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

PICAYUNE — This year’s region tournament went much better for the Hancock girls than last year did.
Led by senior standout Brooklyn Cuevas, the powerful Lady Hawks throttled Pascagoula 58-41 in the championship game of the Region 4-6A tourney Friday night.
Cuevas poured in a career and game-high 34 points, as Hancock moved to an impressive 28-1 overall with their third win over the second-seed Lady Panthers this season.
The tourney title comes on the heels of a 2023 appearance in the Region 8-6A event, which featured two straight losses for theLady Hawks after finishing 27-1 in the regular season.
“Huge accomplishment for our team to win a district championship after we felt like we had let a couple slip away the last couple of years,” Hancock head coach Jamie Sisco said. “Early on it’s like we were putting too much pressure on ourselves and not playing smart solid basketball. We took a timeout, probably chewed on them a little hard, but boy did they respond.”

The Lady Panthers came out in a man-to-man defense in the first period, pressuring the Lady Hawks on the perimeter.
Cuevas and Pascagoula’s Samaha Jonson matched up in a shooters duel, as each nailed a pair of 3-pointers apiece and Hancock was up just 10-8 entering the second stanza.
However, the recent William Carey signee Cuevas was just getting started. She followed that up with eight points in the second period and Hancock out-scored the Lady Panthers 16-10 to stretch its advantage to 26-18 at halftime.

Cuevas then took over the game almost single-handedly, as she outscored Pascagoula on her own 14-11 in the third frame. Riley Bishop added five points in the span, and both she and Cuevas hit treys as the Lady Hawks went into the final period in complete control at 45-29.
The Lady Panthers never got closer than 12 points in the fourth quarter.
“Can’t say enough about how our players have responded game after game this year when we know we are getting everyone’s best shot,” Sisco added.

Cuevas was brilliant in her best outing of the season, nailing five 3-pointers as part of her 34-point effort. Bishop added nine points for the Lady Hawks, and point guard Talana Bond had six points and six assists.
Johnson and Massyah Thomas each tallied 10 points apiece to pace Pascagoula, while Payton Harmon added seven points for the Lady Panthers.
Despite the loss, both Pascagoula and HHS will open the upcoming Class 6A South State Playoffs at home next week.