The host West Lincoln Bears and Lady Bears will battle for theDivision 7-1A championships tonight in Jack Case Gymnasium. The No.1-seeded West Lincoln teams face the Bogue Chitto girls at 7 p.m.and the Mississippi School for the Deaf boys at 8:30.

In the consolation games today, the Enterprise girls meet St. Alat 4 and the Bogue Chitto boys square off against St. Al at 5:30.The top four teams advance to the second round of the playoffs nextweek.

West Lincoln 62, St. Al 35

The West Lincoln girls (22-3) led St. Al10-5 in the first quarter and 29-10 at the half.

“We played okay in spurts and bad in spurts,” said West Lincolncoach Lane Young. “Our overall effort must be better tonight.”

Powering the Lady Bears with 18 points, 4 steals and 7 assists wasLauren Smith. Collecting 15 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals wasMonica Price. Alicia Kennedy netted 14 points, pulled down 8rebounds, made 2 steals and had 2 assists.

Tops off the backboards with 10 rebounds was Erica Shaw who alsomade 3 steals and had 2 assists.

Sarah Kerut’s 15 points pace St. Al (14-16).

“We got in early foul trouble and got down big and you can’t comeback against a good team,” said St. Al coach Drew Brayer.

West Lincoln 78, St. Al 49

The Bears (17-8) and the Flashes weretied 16-all in the first quarter. West Lincoln exploded for a huge26-8 run in the second quarter for a 42-24 lead at the half.

“In the second quarter, we managed to score and make a run, and ourdefense stepped up. That was the turning point of the game,” saidYoung.

The Bears continued to score on the Flashes in the third quarter ona 21-12 run to lead 63-36 going into the final frame.

Kevin King and Tyler Smith fired in 23 points apiece for WestLincoln. King also collected 7 rebounds, made 3 steals and had 2assists. Smith added 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Jeremy Byrd followedwith 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 4 blocked shots.

“We cannot let a team like West Lincoln build a big lead and expectto come back if we don’t have good shooters,” added Brayer.

The (6-21) Flashes got 14 points from J.R. Burnett. Chase Smith andChris Johnson added 14 points apiece. Smith also grabbed 7rebounds.