WESSON — When Wesson guard Wade Williams’ three-point shot hitthe rim and spun out with no time remaining, the Forrest County AHSAggies breathed a sigh of relief. The Class 4A Aggies escaped afourth-quarter rally by the Cobras for a 57-56 victory Thursdaynight.

In the girls game, Wesson made in the fourth quarter on senior10 points center Kira Turnbo’s10 points but fell short of four atthe end and fell to Forrest County AHS 41-37. Turnbo finished thegame with a game-high 18 points.

This was the season opener for the Class 4A Aggies who are 1-0on the season.

Forrest County AHS 57, Wesson 56

Wesson (1-2) was already shorthanded with senior forward CollinKing sidelined with an ankle injury.

“We knew without Collin, it was 15 points right there,” saidKessler after the game. “But Blake Pickett played well. We weredown 14 points and never quit.

“We fought back,” added Kessler. “We had the lastpossession.”

In the fourth quarter, the Cobras and the Aggies exchanged thelead until Forrest County AHS guard Trey Thompson netted his 19thpoint of the game for the 57-56 lead with 22.9 secondsremaining.

“Coach Kessler and I have the same philosophy,” said ForrestCounty coach Kyle Roana. “Kessler has his team playing hard. He hasthree guards as good as any in our Class 4A. We were fortunate towin.”

Starting guard Adrien Merchant, who fouled out with 10 pointswith 4:45 left in the game, nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer inthe first quarter to give Wesson a brief 13-12 lead. At halftime,Forrest County AHS had gone up by three points, 26-23.

A 19-10 run by the Aggies in the third quarter put the Cobrasbehind 45-33 going into the final frame.

Williams was the leading scorer for Wesson with 14 points. BlakePickett fired in 12 points. Mason Warren netted 11 points followedby Merchant with 10.

Abram Robins pumped in 14 points for Forrest County AHS.

Forrest County AHS 41, Wesson 37

The Wesson girls (0-3) held Forrest County AHS scoreless in thefourth quarter and outscored the visitors 9-0 until the final 24seconds in the game. The Lady Aggies held a one-point, 38-37 leadand the Lady Cobras fouled guard Nikki Shows who went 3-for-4 fromthe free-throw line to help secure the win.

“I thought we looked good early on ,” said Forrest County AHSgirls coach Michael Thornton. “We were not very good in the fourthquarter. We need to get better offensively. I was disappointed inour inside defense.”

Thornton compliments Wesson’ Turnbo on her play. “She dominatedus on offense and defense inside.”

Wesson girls coach Jemmye Ann Helms was also pleased withTurnbo’s game play.

“Kira kept us in the game,” said Helms. “She went after theball.”

The Lady Aggies led 13-10 in the first quarter then pushed theirlead to 27-18 at halftime and 38-27 going into the final frame whenthey missed every field goal they put up.

Freshman guard Perry K Furr added nine points for the LadyCobras.

“Our guards didn’t handle the ball well,” added Helms. “Ourguard play needs work.”

Junior high action

The Wesson boys put away Dexter 40-22. Powering the Cobras with11 points was Cody King followed by Robert Henderson with 10.

The Dexter girls knocked off Wesson 17-13. Macie Case and AnnaShelby Davis netted four points apiece for the Lady Cobras.

Wesson travels to Brooklyn Thursday to play in the ForrestCounty AHS Tournament. The tourney lasts two days.