By JOSEPH W. GEX II/Staff Writer

KILN — The West Harrison Lady Hurricanes and the Hancock Hawks both punched their tickets to the Class 6A state playoffs with first round wins in the Region 6A tournament being held in Kiln Monday night.

The Lady Hurricanes (24-4) eliminated the Lady Bearcats of Long Beach on Monday evening 68-17.

The Lady Hurricanes jumped out to a 17-10 lead in the first period behind the strong shooting of Sydnei Barber who had six points in the period. 

In the second period, West Harrison continued to apply pressure as they pushed the lead to 28-15 at intermission. 

In the third period, West Harrison used a stifling defense to hold the Lady Bearcats scoreless as they created a 40-point gap that ignited a running clock. 

West Harrison continued the domination in the fourth period as they outscored the Lady Bearcats 13-2.

West Harrison head coach Patty Norwood commented, “We needed a good win to get us moving in the right direction. We are ready to play Pascagoula with who we split during the regular season.”

West Harrison was led by Barber with 20 points followed by Taylor Norwood with 11 points and Michelle Jackson and Jalynn Applewhite with 9 points each.

The Hawks (12-15) played the late game on their home court on Monday. 

Hancock eliminated the Long Beach Bearcats 48-41 but not after Long Beach made it interesting. 

Hancock jumped out to a 15-7 lead in the first period with Jaxon Knight scoring the first five points for the Hawks. 

In the second period, the Hawks pushed the difference to 10 points leading at halftime 23-13 with four different Hawks finding points. 

In the third period, the Bearcats came roaring back with Kevin Smyers scoring nine points in the period as Long Beach trailed just 35-31.

Smyers brought Long Beach to with a basket but could not get any closer. 

Hancock head coach Connor Entriken stated, “Our mission tonight was survive and advanced. I am sure it was not pretty but we are excited to continue to play.”

Kaison Koennen led Hancock with 13 points followed by Malachi Lightell and Jaxon Knight 

Smyers led all scorers with 20 points. 

In the two opening games on Monday afternoon, the George County boys beat Picayune 56-50 and the Picayune girls beat GCHS 54-47..

In the win by the Rebels, L.B. Bradley tallied 15 points all in the second hald to pave the way for GCHS to get back into the state playoffs. Karsyn Fairley poured in a game-high 18 points for George County and D.J. McNair chipped in 16 points to the winning cause giving the Rebels a trio of players in double digits.

Jordan Hathorne had 17 points for the Maroon Tide while Kelton Stewart added 11 points as Picayune’s season came to an end.

In the first game of the day, Kimora Banks tallied 16 points in the win for Picayune and Rhyen Goss added 14 points to the winning effort and Laikyn Moore had eight points.

For GCHS, Delanie McNair scored 14 points, Dekari McNair had 11 points and Ava Hall had 11 points also as the season came to an end for the Lady Rebels.