This is Elimination Night for basketball teams still alive inthe South Mississippi playoffs. A loss in tonight’s quarterfinalswill abruptly end their seasons.

West Lincoln is hosting the South Mississippi Class 1A boysquarterfinals today and Coach Lane Young hopes his Bears cancapitalize on their home court advantage. They play South Leake at5:30 in Jack Case Gymnasium.

Other games at West Lincoln today feature Durant vs. BiloxiMercy Cross 4 p.m., McAdams vs. Sebastopol at 7 and Lake vs.Thomastown at 8:30. The $7 admission price is set by theMississippi High School Activities Association.

Friday’s semifinals start at 6 p.m. and 7:30. The consolationgame is Saturday at 6 p.m., followed by the championship at 7:30.The top three teams advance to next week’s state tournament at theBig House, a.k.a. the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.

Other area teams in action tonight are the Brookhaven’s girls atWayne County to play South Jones at 8:30 in Class 4A, and BogueChitto’s girls at Stringer to play Stringer at 7 in Class 1A. InClass 3A girls at Southeast Lauderdale, Franklin County playsCrystal Springs at 8:30, Newton County meets Hazlehurst at 5:30,Choctaw Central plays Yazoo County at 4 and Southeast Lauderdaleplays Jefferson County at 7.

Bears Host South Leake

Coach Young knows his Bears will need a good game against SouthLeake (17-12). The Wildcats whipped Mt. Olive 68-48 Mondaynight.

“South Leake has pretty good guard play,” saidYoung. “Their point guard is supposed to be extremely quick. Theyhave a pretty decent team. They play 9-10 players.

“They like to shoot the three. They prefer an up tempogame.”

“Adam Ealy, the point guard, pushes the button for them,” saidYoung. “He controls the tempo of the game. He’s their teamleader.”

On defense, Young said, “They play full-court and half-court mandefense. Then they back up into a zone.”

West Lincoln smashed Weir 66-41 in Tuesday’s opening round.Sophomore center Bradleigh Rice led the Bears with 18 points and 10rebounds. Guard Shane Lynch followed Rice with 17 points. JeremyByrd netted 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Stephen Jones scored11 points.

Young said he was hoping for a large fan turnout. “If peoplewant to see some good basketball, they should come out.”

BHS Girls Test South Jones

Ole Brook girls coach Billy Holmes said he had a limitedscouting report on the South Jones Lady Braves (13-8). South Jonesupset Stone County 51-47 in Monday’s opening round while the OleBrook Lady Panthers (19-14) were smashing Poplarville 55-33..

“South Jones has three 5-10s and a couple of 5-7s,” said Holmes.”They upset Stone County Monday night.

“We are going to do what we do and adjust to what they do,” saidHolmes. “Our pressure defense can take them out of what they dobest.

“They are more of a half-court team,” Holmes continued. “I thinkwe can match them with speed. We have an advantage in size. If ourkids perform like they are capable, we should be all right.”

Against Poplarville, the Lady Panthers were led by sophomorecenter Nikki Byrd and guard Jermecia Jones with 12 points each.Byrd is averaging 11.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.

Teammate Swayze Black follows Byrd with 9.6 ppg and 8.6 rpgaverages. Portia Dickey (6.98), Blanche Wilson (5.6 ppg) and Jones(4.7 ppg) are other scoring leaders.

Lady ‘Cats Tackle Stringer

“Stringer has two tall, very good post players in Jasmine Payne(6-2) and Amelia Williams (6-4),” said Bogue Chitto coach ChristiTerrell. “Their game is to get the ball into the post.”

Asked about her defensive strategy, Terrell said, “We hope ourguards can put enough pressure on them to cause turnovers.”

Bogue Chitto (16-11) produced a strong offensive performance onthe road Monday night at Ethel, posting an 80-68 victory. The Lady’Cats were led by center Shasta Porter with 22 points and 9rebounds. Guard Meleah Brown added 19 points and forward KimberleeThomas 15.

“We need another good game like the one at Ethel,” said Terrell.”We are going to try our hardest to beat Stringer.”

Lady Bulldogs On Road

Franklin County (21-1) rebounded from a loss to Columbia in theDivision 7-3A Tournament finals to beat Velma Jackson 37-30 Mondaynight at Wesson. Due to a leaking roof and warped floor in theirgymnasium, the Lady Bulldogs have played all of their games on theroad, with Co-Lin’s Mullen Gymnasium serving as a temporary homefloor.

Coached by Charles Moore, the Lady Bulldogs got 25 points fromVictoria Hunt in the win over Velma Jackson. Shalenia Wilcher added6 points and 5 steals.