By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

BAY ST. LOUIS — The second showdown in the annual battle for Hancock County on the prep boys basketball front is set for Monday night here at St. Stanislaus.

St. Stanislaus hosts Hancock in the renewal of this county rivalry. The Rocks come in at 2-0 after getting started a week later than most of the other schools in the “Southern Six”, while the Hawks sit at 1-3 so far on the new season.

Hancock fell to visiting Bay High 69-60 to open the season two weeks ago, as Tiger senior standout Anthony Robinson poured in a game-high 30 points and Jaxson Meranto chipped in 17 points to the winning effort.

Coming into Monday night’s contest with SSC, the Hawks are coming off of a 53-36 road loss to Presbyterian Christian in Hattiesburg at Reed Green Coliseum on the campus of The University of Southern Mississippi late last week.

In between those two games the Hawks split a pair of games with a pair of Class 7A opponents, beating Harrison Central 67-58 but losing to West Harrison 48-34.

Unlike both Bay and SSC, Hancock is still missing several contributors in the early part of the season due to the fact that the Hawks’ football team still being alive in the state football playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Rocks are coming in after a big 78-71 win at home over Resurrection in a Friday afternoon matinee at Brother Peter Memorial Stadium. The win over the Class 1A Eagles helps move the Rocks to 2-0 on the new season, after SSC dispatched Class 7A St. Martin to open the new campaign a week ago.

The game was billed as a “Battle of Big Men” as SSC standout senior center Max Baria faced off with RCS talented post products Tyrese Ricardo and Simeon Ballard, but Rock point guard Cohen Rafael stole some of the spotlight.

Cohen poured in a game-high 22 points to pace St. Stanislaus, while the 6-foot-7 Baria tallied 20 points. Alan Gilliam chipped in 20 points to the winning effort.

The Rocks defense limited both the 6-foot-9 Ballard and the 6-foot-6 Ricardo to 13 points apiece, while Keyshawn Nesbitt and Gian Vera also had 13 points apiece for the Eagles. Denzel Eaton added 12 points for RCS, as the Eagles placed all five starters in double digits.

After the SSC-Hancock contest Monday night, the Rocks will host Bay High on Dec. 9th, to settle the Battle for Hancock County for this season.