By SAM STAFF/Sports Writer

BILOXI — St. Stanislaus will head to St. Patrick Tuesday night having already secured a coveted berth in the upcoming Class 3A South State playoffs.

The Rock-A-Chaws came out of hibernation over the weekend and hit the road to Tylertown and knocked off the home-standing Chiefs 38-28 to move to a perfect 6-0 in Region 8-3A play.

The win also assured SSC of the top seed in the upcoming league tournament which tips off next week also in Tylertown. Along with that top seed comes an automatic berth in the Class 3A South State playoffs as the Rocks are already assured of an opening round bye in the region tourney and that spot in the semifinals assures another trip to the playoffs because the top four finishers next week in the annual affair qualify for the postseason.

St. Stanislaus, which now stands 14-6 overall, wraps up the regular season with two more region games this week including the trip to St. Patrick Tuesday night as well as a home date against Tylertown Friday night for “Senior Night”.

The Rocks have won four straight games and 10 of their past 11 contests with only a loss to Class 6A foe West Harrison the lone blemish in that span. Also, SSC has won 13 of its past 15 games since starting the season off at 1-4.

Among SSC’s six losses on the season, one came at the hands of Class 7A opponent St. Martin, three came to Class 6A foes in Picayune, Hancock and WHHS and yet another to Brother Martin out of New Orleans that plays in the largest classification in Louisiana.

In the first meeting against arch-rival St. Patrick this season, the Rocks rolled to a 49-36 win over the defending Region 8-3A champs at Brother Peter Gym in Bay St. Louis two weeks ago.

In that one, Alan Gilliam scored six points in the second period for the Rocks as they claimed a 23-21 halftime advantage.

In the third period, the two teams battled to a 29-29 tie heading into to the final frame.

David Belle put the Rocks up for good with a bucket on a nifty move in the paint with 7:42 left to give SSC a 31-29 lead. 

The Rocks went on a 10-0 run that was stopped by Brendan Moton sinking 1-of-2 free throws with 3:31 left to play and made the score 41-32. From there the Rocks went on an 8-4 run to close out the game house with three points each from Gilliam and Carter Macias. 

The Rocks were led by Gilliam with 22 points followed by Macias with 10 points.

The Irish were led by Moton with 14 points and Liam Buchanan with 11 points.