By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

MOSS POINT — The defending Region 8-4A Moss Point girls basketball team opened defense of their title in successful fashion Saturday.

The Lady Tigers of head coach Ethan Porter beat visiting Bay High 35-21 here at Haynes Gym in a Saturday afternoon matinee in the region opener for both teams.

The win moved MPHS to 8-11 overall, while Bay High dropped to 10-9 under the direction of new head coach Maurice Singleton, Jr.

“It feels good to start out district play with a win,” Porter said. “Bay High came in and played extremely hard. Their coaches did a great job, and they were prepared. We were just able to make a few more plays throughout the game. I thought we did a great job of matching their intensity and battling from start to finish. We stayed composed in all situations. I am extremely proud of our girls.”

Moss Point got a game-high 16 points out of Trinity Magee, while Kirsten Bailey added eight points and Zaria Nettles six points to the winning effort.

Azlynn Morano had 11 points to pace Bay High, while Chanley Dahn had six points.

Bay High was coming off of an impressive 45-28 win over D’Iberville earlier in the week in their own annual Bay High Christmas Tournament.

Both teams struggled from the field early in the game with Bay High claiming a 10-4 lead in the first period. Asiah Thompson scored eight of the points for Bay High in the period. 

In the second period, Bay High stretched their lead to 22-13 as four different Lady Tiger players scored highlighted by Lakyn Favre’s three-pointer with a little over a minute left in the period that made the halftime score. 

The Lady Tigers surged in the third period to a 35-15 lead as their defense stiffened and held the Lady Warriors to just two points in the period to seal the win.

The Lady Tigers were paced by Thompson with 22 points followed by Favre with 12 points. 

“I was very proud of how we played against D’Iberville,” Singleton said. “We were consistent on both ends of the court. We have been showing improvement in our offensive flow. Asiah Thompson and Lakyn Favre got some open looks tonight and made them count.”

On Saturday, however, Moss Point held Thompson to zero points and Facre to just Favre to just one point.