By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

BILOXI — The St. Patrick girls are on the verge of making a second straight trip to the Class 3A South State Quarterfinal round.

The Lady Irish are coming off of a 53-27 Thumping on Monday night of visiting Noxubee County in the opening round of the Class 3A South State playoffs. Sitting at a solid 24-4 overall, St. Patrick hosts Magee Friday night at 7 p.m.

St. Patrick, in its second season under the guidance of head coach Nick Mumme, can clinch a second straight berth in the quarterfinals with a win over the Lady Trojans.

On Monday, in the latest Lady Irish win, St. Patrick jumped out to a commanding 17-4 advantage after the first quarter thanks to six points from Natalie Gordon, five points from Alex Patino and a 3-pointer by Meredith Eleuterius.

Just for good measure, Gordon exploded for 12 more points in the second stanza to lead the Lady Irish to a 34-9 halftime lead and the home team cruised to the win to advance to second round action.

Patino tallied a game-high 23 points to pace SPHS to the win, including 13 points in the second half. Eight of those points came in the third frame.

Gordon chipped in 19 points to the winning effort.

In one of the deepest postseason runs in program history, SPHS qualified for the Class 3A South State Quarterfinal round last season before its season came to an end.

This season, with one more win, the Lady Irish cane return to that round which puts them just one step away from a berth in the overall Class 3A Final Four at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson at the end of this month.