By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

BILOXI —This week’s “Baria Law Firm Game Ball of the Week” goes to Alex Patino of St. Patrick as presented by SouthMiss6 Sports.

Every week throughout the end of the school year, we will honor student/athletes across the “Southern Six” with our “Game Ball of the Week” sponsored by David Baria, Attorney-Mediator.

The sophomore Patino, a standout guard for the Lady Irish, is enjoying a splendid season on the hardwood as she is averaging 22 points, four steals and three rebounds.

She has guided St. Patrick to 10 straight wins and 12 wins in its last 13 outings, as the Lay Irish sit a a solid 16-4 overall and in sole possession of the top spot in Region 8-3A at 6-0.

In a recent battle for the lead in the region race against arch-rival OLA when each team entered the contest unbeaten in league action, Patino made sure that her team took a big step towards securing that opening round bye in the upcoming region tourney and consequential automatic berth in the Class 3A South State playoffs.

The home-standing Lady Irish bounced the Crescents 48-35, and SPHS wasted no time in letting the visitors from Bay St. Louis know their intentions on the evening as Patino scored five first quarter points including a 3-pointer and SPHS jumped out to a 13-5 lead at the end of the opening period.

Patino was back at it in the third frame, as she tallied seven points and drained her second triple of the contest as SPHS slowly stretched its lead to double digits at 41-30 entering the final frame. OLA was able to slice the deficit to single digits only once down the stretch as St. Patrick sealed the win.

Patino continued her impressive performance this season with a game-high 21 points.

Patino poured in 37 points, four steals and two rebounds in St. Patrick’s 46-24 win over Lamar Christian earlier this season. She also had 29 points in a win over Class 6A Pearl River Central and 25 points, four assists and four rebounds in a win over Class 7A foe Ocean Springs.

Last season, she helped SPHS make school history when it went on the road and picked up a historical win beating home-standing Kemper County 46-42 in the second round of the Class 3A South State playoffs.

The victory moved the Lady Irish into the Class 3A South State Quarterfinal Tournament. It marks the deepest playoff run for the SPHS girl’s basketball team in program history. 

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