By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

The inaugural SouthMiss6 Sports girls’ Prep Basketball “Player of the Year” is Hancock’s Brooklyn Cuevas.
Cuevas, a senior standout swing guard that recently signed with William Carey University, has guided the Lady Hawks to a sparkling 28-1 record this season and Hancock has won 55 out of its past 59 games as it prepares to open the Class 6A South State playoffs at home against West Jones Friday night.
Cuevas has led the Lady Hawks in scoring in each of the past two seasons, and has been an integral part of both outstanding seasons for Hancock over the past two years.

“It’s no secret why Brooklyn has become the player that she is…she’s coachable and working harder than most when nobody is watching.” Hancock head coach Jamie Sisco said. “The amount of time she works on her own outside of our practice is what separates her in terms of skill. The heart of a champion and the will to win is something inside of her, and I am not sure you can coach that all the time. It starts at home with her and we just do our best to help put her in good situations. You won’t find a better kid and teammate than her either, and I would almost guarantee her teammates would agree.”
Cuevas has been the focal point of opposing defenses for most of the past two seasons, but especially this year. But she manages to still get all of her teammates both inside the lane and on the perimeter involved while double and even tripled-teamed at times, and she still is talented enough to create her own scoring opportunities even though that may not always be her intent.

That’s evidenced by her performance in the Region 4-6A Tournament championship game last week, when she poured in a career and game-high 34 points in a 58-41 win over Pascagoula on a neutral court at Picayune.
“Part of our success at Hancock has been our youth leagues and our middle school program,” Sisco added. “We have the best there is in those areas and I always keep my eyes on it while also staying out of the way. but I knew Brooklyn would be special a long time ago watching her come up. It was not an if, it was simply when. She has always been competitive, she could always shoot it, and her inner circle has always made sure she stayed on the correct path regardless of outside noise of any kind.”
Averaging just over 20 points per game, Cuevas has been a steady and veteran influence this season as Hancock has rang up those 28 wins. She even adjusted her role just after the first of the year when the Lady Hawks lost versatile junior standout Anslee James for the rest of the season due to a knee injury.

Cuevas was honored as the Region 4-6A Most Valuable Player of the Year.
And it’s not just folks in Hancock County that have taken notice of the play of Cuevas, opposing head coaches have along the way as well.

“Her basketball IQ is through the roof,” St. Martin head coach Jason Kennedy said. “She is a hard-nosed competitor, and in my opinion, she’s one of the best shooters in the state.”
And Kennedy should now, as he has coached at several different spots in the state over the past 15 years including Picayune, Terry and in Pearl, where he won a state championship a few years back.
Cuevas led her Lady Hawks into St. Martin and took a 48-36 win over Kennedy and his Region 4-7A champion Lady Yellow Jackets in late November.

On Friday, Cuevas and her squad hope to continue their success at home in the Kiln where she looks to guide the Lady Hawks to their 20th straight win over the past two seasons.
She and the rest of her teammates have their sights set on a deep postseason run the rest of this year with a hopes of bringing the first girls’ state basketball championship in 20 years, since 2004, back to the Kiln.
“William Carey got a steal in Brooklyn and I know they are excited to get her into their program,” Sisco concluded. “Some bigger programs missed out on her, but William Carey is outstanding and is the perfect fit for her in my opinion. Coach (Jessica) Garriga will do a great job keeping Brooklyn moving in the right direction.”

The SouthMiss6 Sports girls’ Prep Basketball Player of the Year Award is sponsored by the Baria Law Firm out of Bay St. Louis.