WESSON — Loyd Star got a huge, 25-point game from seniorforward Shara Johnson Friday night as the Lady Hornets knocked offthe Wesson Lady Cobras 51-43 victory in a big Division 6-2Agame.

Loyd Star improved to 8-8 on the season and 1-2 in divisionplay. Wesson fell to 8-9 and 2-2 in district action.

“I thought both teams played extremely hard,” said Loyd Stargirls coach Lori Britt following the victory. “It was a shameeither team had to lose. The third quarter was the turning point.We played better man-to-man defense.”

Going into the final frame, the Loyd Star girls led Wesson35-31. Johnson ran off seven straight points to push the LadyHornets lead to 42-37 with 5:40 left to play.

With 1:17 remaining in the game, Loyd Star was up 46-39, whensenior point guard Jordan Britt fouled Christy Watson and wascalled for the foul. Then Britt was assessed a technical foul byreferee Jamie Oster. Watson missed both free throws off thepersonal foul but sophomore guard Alexis Crosby netted the twotechnical freebies, cutting the deficit to 46-41.

Seconds later, Wesson freshman guard Perry K. Furr was fouledshooting a three-pointer and went 2-for-3 from the charity line tocut the Loyd Star lead to 46-43 with 46 seconds remaining.

With 27.6 seconds left, Loyd Star guard Kristen Newell netted apair of free throws to push the Lady Hornet lead to six points at48-43. Bethany Dykes of Wesson fouled Johnson with 9.4 seconds onthe clock and was hit with a technical by Oster. Johnson fired in 3out of 4 free throws to push Loyd Star’s lead to 51-43.

“We had a great game plan but we got away from it,” said Wessongirls coach Jemmye Ann Helms. “You have to make your freethrows.”

Wesson struggled at the charity stripe, going 10 of 20 from thefree-throw line. Loyd Star was 15 of 25.

“Loyd Star’s No. 5 (Kristen Newell) did a good job.”complimented Helms.

The Lady Hornets led the Lady Cobras 15-12 in the first quarter.At the 7:41 mark, the game was temporarily halted due to heavyrains that resulted in the roof leaking on the gym floor. The gameresumed 10 minutes later.

Wesson came back with a 15-11 run to take a slight one-point,27-26, lead in at the half.

Contributing to the Loyd Star win with 13 points and sevenrebounds was junior forward Hailey Ratcliff. Britt grabbed sixrebounds, made four steals and had four assists. Newell netted fourpoints.

Wesson was led by Crosby with 15 points, including three3-pointers. Furr added eight points. Megan Allen pulled down sevenrebounds.

Junior High Action

The Lady Hornets thumped the Lady Cobras 25-17. Pacing Loyd Starwith nine points was Brittany Brown. Heather Carmical had six.

Charity McDaniel led Wesson with 10 points.