By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

GULFPORT — A big showdown for the top spot in the Region 4-6A girls’ race is set for Friday night pitting a pair of teams with impressive records.

Visiting Hancock, the defending league champs, heads here to West Harrison. Both teams are knotted atop the region race at 4-0. The Lady Hawks sit at 17-2 overall, while West Harrison is 19-1.

Both teams are coming off of impressive region wins as well earlier in the week, as the Lady Hawks thumped Long Beach 51-17 and the Lady ‘Canes pounded Pascagoula 63-35.

In the Kiln, Talana Bond poured in a game-high 23 points for Hancock and Anslee James chipped in 13 points as the Lady Hawks rolled to the big win over the Lady Bearcats.

Paityn Langley had a double-double for Long Beach with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

The win marked the 16th straight region win for Hancock dating back to the beginning of last season.

In Pascagoula, West Harrison standout Sydnei Barber poured in a career-high and game-high 44 points to pace the Lady ‘Canes over the home-standing Lady Panthers.

The 5-foot-10 junior guard drained four 3-pointers among her 16 total field goals and she also went eight-of-10 from the free throw line in the outstanding performance.

Barber tallied 28 points in the first half alone, leading West Harrison to a commanding 40-10 advantage at halftime.

She got the Lady ‘Canes rolling right away outscoring Pascagoula 13-5 all by herself in the first period, including two of her treys.

She was even more impressive in the second stanza, tallying 15 points on five field goals and five free throws as the Lady ‘Canes erupted for 23 points in the period and went into halftime with that aforementioned 40 points lead.

Barber cooled off in the third frame, scoring just four points, but bounced back with 12 more points in the fourth quarter including her final two 3-pointers of the night.

Miranda Parker also had eight points in support of Barber’s heroics, while Jaylenn Applewhite chipped in seven points and 11 rebounds to the winning effort.

Samaha Johnson paced Pascagoula with 12 points while Khyiyah Moore added eight points for the Lady Panthers.

Pascagoula heads to Picayune in Region 4-6A play Friday night while Long Beach faces George County,