By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

Each week until the first weekend in March at the overall state tournament in Jackson, SouthMiss6 Sports will be the place to be to keep up with the most complete and comprehensive info about all things prep basketball featuring stories and photos in the “Southern Six” counties of the state of Mississippi.

Each week we will take a look at at least five players and five games to keep an eye on as well as release our weekly “Super 7 in the Southern 6 Poll”.

Starting 5 in the “Southern 6

This week’s “Starting 5 in the Southern 6” players list is comprised of area standouts that helped their respective teams pick u big wins over the past week.

1. Taylor Henley, OLA — Our Lady Academy picked up a big win on the road over rival St. Patrick in Region 8-3A play. The Crescents captured the battle for the second spot in the region standings, with an exciting 67-61 decision over the Lady Irish. The Crescents trailed 35-27 at halftime, but OLA bounced back with a strong second half outing, especially in a momentum-changing third frame, as sophomore stalwart Henley dropped in eight points the Crescents wrestled the led away from SPHS at 44-41 entering the final frame. From there, OLA kicked it into gear and steadily extended its lead down the stretch as Henley tallied 11 points in the fourth period, including a key early 3-pointer. Henley poured in a co-game-high 28 points to pace the winning attack for OLA.
2. Alex Patino, St. Patrick — That loss by the Lady Irish to OLA in region play overshadowed a solid performance by the junior stalwart Patino for St. Patrick. She also tallied 28 points in the game, and thanks to 16 first half points by Patino, including a pair of 3-pointers, the home team snatched up that 35-27 advantage at halftime.
3. Jabari Moye, Stone— The Tomcats got an outstanding overall effort from Moye in 72-43 thumping of visiting Vancleave in Region 4-5A play, as he poured in a game-high 34 points as well as grabbing eight rebounds, dishing out eight assists and snatching up five steals in leading the way to the comfortable win.
4. Rafael Cohen, St. Stanislaus — Cohen Moore poured in a game-high 27 points in a 64-56 loss to defending Class 7A state champion Germantown Monday afternoon in Clinton during the prestigious “Rumble in the Sosuth” event at A. E. Wood Coliseum on the campus of Mississippi College..
5. Morris Robertson, Gulfport — On Monday night, it took a solid fourth quarter comeback for Gulfport to pull out a close 58-54 win over perennial state power Meridian at the Wilson Terrell MLK Day Classic in Laurel, and Robertson was a big reason why., as the Admirals out-scored Meridian 17-8 down the stretch to overcome a 42-37 deficit after three quarters to seal the win. The Wildcats led by as much as eight points in the third quarter, but the Admirals stayed within striking distance thanks in large part to the play of the Dandy Dozen senior standout Robertson, Jr., who drained four treys on the afternoon and finished with a team-high 22 points in earning MVP honors.

This Week’s Games:

1. West Harrison at Biloxi (girls) — Tuesday night in a key Region 4-7A contest.
2. East Central at Vancleave (boys) — Thursday night in a bigRegion 4-5A battle.
3. Picayune at Hancock (girls) — Tuesday night in a huge Region 4-6A game.
4. East Central at Vancleave (girls) — Thursday night in a key Region 5-4A game.
5. Richton at Resurrection (boys) — Thursday in a big Region 8-1A contest

South Miss 6 Sports Super 7 Polls

Super 7 in the Southern 6 Prep Hoops Poll!!!!

(Jan. 20th)

(Our weekly poll is the ONLY one in the state of Mississippi that’s voted solely on by a panel of head basketball coaches)

Boys:

1. Gulfport 19-1
2. West Harrison 17-2
3. St. Stanislaus 17-4
4. Pascagoula 16-5
5. Biloxi 13-6
6. Resurrection 14-4
7. Ocean Springs 12-8

Girls:

1. Biloxi 20-1
2. West Harrison 18-2
3. Harrison Central 17-2
4. St. Martin 14-6
5. Hancock 12-8
6. Gulfport 16-5
7. OLA 17-4