The boys’ teams from both George County and Picayune as well as the girls’ squads from both Gautier and West Harrison each maintained their unbeaten and top-spot status atop their respective Class 5A regions Friday night.
In Hurley, the visiting Rebels stopped home-standing East Central 59-34 as GCHS moved to 4-0 in the Region 8-5A. Marlin Odom tallied a game-high 17 points to lead the Rebels, with 12 of those coming in the second half. Ethan Siebert chipped in 12 points to the winning effort as well.
Devin Moran scored 10 points for the Hornets, while A.J. Hopkins added eight points as ECHS remained winless in the region at 0-5.
The Lady Hornets began the evening with a rude welcome for the Lady Rebels as they took a 49-24 win. Alex Renot tallied a game-high 15 points to pace ECHS, while Madison Holcomb added 11 points and Madison Knight scored 10 points for the Lady Hornets as they moved to 2-3 in league action.
The Lady Rebels, who are now 2-2 in the region race, got seven points from Haley Stringer and five points and a game-high 10 rebounds from Taleah Daniels.
Both GCHS teams host Vancleave in region play Tuesday night, while both ECHS teams step out of the loop and travel to Saraland (Ala.) on the same night.
In Vancleave Friday night, visiting Gautier swept a pair of games from the host team in Region 8-5A play.
The GHS girls moved to a perfect 5-0 and secured the top spot in the upcoming region tournament with a resounding 74-23 win over the Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Gators moved to 14-10 overall with the win.
The Gators followed suit with a 49-37 win over the Bulldogs as they stayed hot on the heels of the aforementioned Rebels in the region race with a 4-1 mark in the loop.
Both Gautier teams step out of the region race Tuesday, as they host two games against Pearl River Central while both VHS squads head to Lucedale and a pair of match-ups with George County.
Speaking of PRC, the Blue Devils and Lady Devils hosted arch-rival Picayune Friday night in a pair of Region 7-5A games.
The Maroon Tide moved to 4-0 in the region race with a 67-32 thumping of the Blue Devils. Josh Holmes poured in a game-high 29 points for Picayune, including seven 3-pointers, while Tyran Warren chipped in 15 points to the winning cause. The Picayune boys are 11-14 overall and have won six straight games.
The Blue Devils got 13 points from Konnor Cazenave and nine points from Payton Cardonna, The PRC boys now stand 11-12 overall and 0-4 in league play.The PRC girls opened the evening with a 42-23 win over the Lady Tide, as the Lady Devils moved to 13-7 overall and 2-1 in league play. Nia Mitchell had a game-high 15 points for PRC, and the Lady Devils were forced to play without leading scorer Hannah Mitchell who missed the second half of the game after being injured. Mitchell is averaging 16 points per game but just had six in the first half, After her departure, Mitchell, who scored just three points in the first half, tallied 11 in the second half to guide the Lady Devils to the win.
The Lady Tide fell to 3-20 overall and 0-4 in league play.
Both PRC teams head to Gautier Tuesday night, while both Picayune teams will host West Harrison in region action.
Those aforementioned WHHS squads went to Long Beach Friday night in Region 7-5A play and split a pair of games.
The West Harrison Lady Hurricanes tipped the evening off with an exciting 34-31 win over the LBHS girls to move to 4-0 in the region race and remain atop the league standings. Head coach Patty Norwood’s crew is 15-7 overall and needs just to beat the struggling Lady Tide Tuesday night to clinch the top seed in the upcoming region tournament.
The boy’s teams followed with a close contest as well, as the home-standing Bearcats knocked off the Hurricanes 45-43. Long Beach moved to 8-13 overall and 2-2 in the region race, while the WHHS boys also are 2-2 in league play and stand 9-13 overall.
