By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director
LONG BEACH — The Picayune girls are staying solidly in second place in the Region 4-6A race as the regular season winds down.
The Lady Tide hammered home-standing Long Beach 63-26 Friday night to move to 6-2 in the region race with just two league games left to play. The win was a nice way to bounce back from a 68-48 loss on the road to league-leading Hancock on Tuesday, as the Lady Hawks clinched their third straight region title.

Also, Picayune needs just one more win next week in its last two region games to punch its ticket to the Class 6A South Stated playoffs. That’s because the top two seeds in regular season play earn opening round byes in the upcoming region tourney and an automatic berth into the semifinals, which ensures a top four finish in the seeding for postseason purposes.
The Lady Tide was never threatened by the Lady Bearcats, jumping out to a commanding 31-12 halftime lead and never looking back. Rhyen Goss registered five first quarter points for Picayune as the visitors grabbed a 13-4 lead after one quarter.

Junior standout Laikyn Moore then stepped up and sealed the win for Picayune in the second stanza, tallying nine points including a 3-pointer as the Lady Tide rolled to that 19-point advantage at intermission.
Moore posted a game-high 23 points to pace Picayune to the win, while Goss chipped in 17 points. Maddie Plummer had nine points also for the Lady Tide.
Austyn McNeese led Long Beach with 10 points, while Harper Ladner had eight points.
The loss dropped the Lady Bearcats to 1-21 overall and 0-8 in the region race.