By MAURICE SINGLETON/Sports Writer

PERKINSTON — The Hattiesburg Tigers had to overcome a second half surge by the West Harrison Hurricanes before pulling away from the Hurricanes with a 45-38 win on Saturday.

The win, which came in the Class 6A South State Quarterfinals, gave Hattiesburg a measure of revenge over the Hurricanes after West Harrison went to the Hub City last season in the opening round of the playoffs and upset the then defending Class 5A state champions.

The Hurricanes led by only two points at halftime (17-15), but they opened the second half with two huge 3-pointers from Jamarcus McCalebb, the first from the right wing on their opening possession of the third quarter, and the next from the left wing on their second possession to give them an 8-point lead at 23-15.

But the Tigers were unflappable as they chiseled away at the Hurricanes’ lead. Junior Ethan Long responded to the second Hurricanes’ 3-pointer with a reverse layup in Hattiesburg’s half court offense. A few plays later he slammed one in off of an “alley oop” pass to pull within four at 25-21.

Senior Lawl Lang gave the Tigers their first lead of the second half on a 3-point play as he was fouled and scored on a layup and sinking the free throw. The Tigers led 28-27 with 2:34 left on the third quarter clock.

The lead would change four times before Hattiesburg would take the lead on a controversial 3-pointer at the buzzer. The ball hit the rim and rose what appeared to be at least ten feet before dropping through the cylinder as the buzzer sounded to end the third quarter.

A Hattiesburg player appeared to have grabbed the nets as the ball fell through the cylinder, but after huddling the referees decided that the 3-pointer was good.

The Tigers led 33-31 with the call, and they would build that lead to 39-31 within the first two minutes of the fourth quarter.

“They controlled the pace of the game,” said Hattiesburg’s coach Ernie Watson. “We just had to take up-tempo and make it our kind of game.

“We were playing into their hands, and they’re a very good team,” said Watson. “And if you do that, they control tempo and make shots and do the things they love to do. We had to take them out of their rhythm.”

West Harrison would pull within three points of the Tigers twice (39-36) and (41-38), but the Tigers responded each time, first on a Long’ dunk to get the lead back to five (41-36), then on a 10-footer by Long to regain the lead at five points (43-38) with 42 second on the clock.

The Hurricanes would turn the ball over to the Tigers on a steal with 24 seconds left, and the Tigers would score two free throws down the stretch to close out the game’s scoring.

“I thought that one call made a big difference in changing the momentum,” said West Harrison’s coach Jeff Norwood. “But the ref told me he saw it, and all I could do is go with his call. I thought that turned the whole momentum around. Then we got a little pressure on us, and we got in a hurry. You have to do what you do when it gets tough and tight.”

Long led Hattiesburg scorers with 18 points, followed by James Griffin with 10 points. McCalebb led West Harrison with 9 points, followed by Owen Reese with 8 points and Logan Robinson with 7 points.

The win improves Hattiesburg’s record to 23-8 and a trip the 6A Final Four, and they will play Olive Branch next Thursday. The winner of that game will play the winner of Pascagoula and Ridgeland game for the 6A state championship.

The loss ended West Harrison’s season with a record of 18-12.