By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

The powerful Hancock girls were the only Region 4-6A team to pick up a win in the opening round of the Class 6A South State playoffs Friday night.
Home-standing Pascagoula fell to Hattiesburg 50-45 in a tight battle, while West Harrison lost on the road in Jackson to Forrest Hill 73-52 and home-standing Terry thumped Long Beach 62-16.
In Pascagoula, first-year Lady Panther head coach Lakia Westerfield was proud of the season despite the disappointing finish.

“I’m so proud of these girls,” she said. “Tonight didn’t go as planned but I’m proud nonetheless. To witness the growth and improvement that we’ve had this season has been a blessing. We’ve been down to seven players a few nights and we still competed. That’s all I’ve asked of them no matter what, just compete. I feel like we did that so I can’t even be mad. We have a lot of things to work on in the off-season, but I’m proud of my girls and I’m looking forward to them getting even better.”

Massyah Thomas paced Pascagoula in the close decision with a game-high 17 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, while Kailyn Hyde added 12 points and Khyliyah Moore had nine points.
Alaysia Jordan led the Lady Tigers with 15 points, while Laila Esters added 12 points and Tameia Ford 10 points to the winning cause.
Hattiesburg took control of the game by out-scoring Pascagoula 22-10 in the third period.

Elsewhere, in Jackson, West Harrison got 15 points from Jaylenn Applewhite and 14 points from Sydnei Barber but it wasn’t enough.
Ky’Lah Stovall poured in a game-high 30 points for the Lady Patriots in the win.
Forrest Hill moves on to meet Hancock next week in the Class 6A Quarterfinal Tournament in Perkinston on the campus of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College next weekend.

Hancock blew past visiting West Jones 62-48 to open the Class 6A South State playoffs in fine fashion. Senior standout Brooklyn Cuevas poured in a game-high 33 points, including a career-high seven 3-pointers, to lead the Lady Hawks while Bishop chipped in 19 points to the winning effort and Bond added nine points.