Hurricanes Blow Past Tigers; into 5A Semifinals

GULFPORT—The home standing West Harrison Hurricanes rocked the Moss Point Tigers 84-68 in their Tuesday night clash in the first round of the state 5A tournament.
Stacy Dennis led a first quarter charge for the Hurricanes after his team fell behind 5-4 in the early stages of the game. His first bucket gave West Harrison a 6-5 lead, and the Hurricanes would never trail again. Moss Point’s Keylin Watson saw limited first half action after picking up three fouls in less than six minutes of play.
The Hurricanes opened the second quarter with a 15-11 lead, but Kenny Patterson and Stacy scored a combined 17 points to extend the lead to 13. Moss Point’s Joseph Cunningham battled to cut the lead back to ten in the final minute of the half, but a half court buzzer beater by Patterson pushed the lead back to 13 at 46-33 going into halftime.
The Tigers would never bring the lead back under ten for the rest of the game as the Hurricanes high percentage shooting proved too much for Moss Point to overcome. Tigers’ coach Micoe Cotton credited the sharp shooting of the Hurricanes as being the difference in the game. “They shot the ball really well,” said Cotton. “Stacy Dennis really stepped up, and we couldn’t knock down any shots.”
While Cotton said the season ended on a down note, he did see some positives heading into next year.
“Going into next year, we’ve just got to work. I’ll be losing a couple of kids, but I feel optimistic,” said Cotton. “The kids did good, but this season is over.”
West Harrison will travel to Wayne County, and they will take on the hosting War Eagles Friday at 7:30 pm.
West Harrison’s Stacy and Moss Point’s Cunningham led all scorers with 25 points each.

Appeared in Mississippi Press 2/16/2011