By SAM STAFF/Sports Writer

GAUTIER — A quartet of “Southern Six” squads in Region 4-5A knew that they would all be hitting the road to open the Class 5A South State playoffs when they convened to resume action in the league tournament Friday afternoon.
But there was still some seeding to be decided in a pair of consolation contests.
The East Central Lady Hornets and the Stone High Tomcats each nabbed the third seed in the region after picking up wins on the final day of the three-day event at Gautier High School.

The Lady Hornets picked up a pair of wins during the week, including a close 28-24 win over Stone in the first consolation contest on Friday.
East Central overcame a slight one-point deficit. going into the fourth period and out-scored Stone 7-3 in the final frame to pull out the win.
Lady Hornet Makayla Thornton stood tall for her team in that decisive fourth period, as she accounted for all seven ECHS points including draining a pair of 3-pointers to help secure the exciting comeback victory.
Carley Billingsley led the Lady Hornets with eight points in the win, while Thornton came alive at the right time after going scoreless over the first three frames to finish up with seven points.
Nyliah Smith scored six points for Stone.
Wayne County beat ECHS 44-34 in Wednesday’s semifinal round, while Stone fell to Laurel 49-2 on the same night.
Top-seeded Laurel went on to claim the Region 4-5A title Friday night with a 69-45 win over WCHS.

In the next game on Friday, Stone beat home-standing Gautier 45-37 in the boys’ consolation game.
The Tomcats took a five-point lead after the first quarter at 13-8, and remained in the lead throughout most of the rest of the game although the Gators remained within striking distance most of the time.
Jabari Moye had 10 points to pace a balanced Tomcat scoring attack in the win, while both Jakobey Johnson and Ray Dennis added eight points apiece and Jhase Jackson had seven points.
Armani Patterson tallied a game-high 13 points to guide the Gators.
Stone lost to Laurel 55-40 in Wednesday’s semifinal round, while Wayne County beat 60-47.
Wayne County knocked off Laurel in the title tilt 62-52 Friday night.
The Class 5A South State Playoffs will tip off on Friday for te girls and on Saturday for the boys.