Senior center Rickey Barnes pumped in 18 points and pulled down11 rebounds Saturday night to spark the host Loyd Star Hornets to a76-53 win over the Franklin County Bulldogs in basketballaction.

In the girls game, Franklin Co. held off Loyd Star for a 47-44victory.

Loyd Star entertains St. Aloysius Tuesday for a pair of varsitygames. Girls action begins at 6 p.m. followed by the boys.

Loyd Star 76, Franklin Co. 53

The Hornets (2-0) jumped on the Bulldogs24-9 in the first quarter and pushed their lead to 37-24 at thehalf.

“We started off playing pretty good,” said Loyd Star boys coachGene “Moochie” Britt. “We shot the ball well. It was a good teameffort.”

Contributing to the Loyd Star win with 13 points and 3 rebounds asAshton Fox. Glenn Thomas followed with 11 points and 3rebounds.

Jarvis Hunt led the Bulldogs with 11 points. Jason Hunt finishedwith 9 points.

Franklin Co. 47, Loyd Star 42

The girls teams were tied 11-all in thefirst quarter. At halftime, the Bulldogs led the Hornets 27-17.Going into the final frame, Franklin Co. held a slim 35-33 leadover Loyd Star and outscored them 12-11 in the final frame.

“We had some mental lapses in the first half,” said Loyd Star girlscoach Billy Vaughn. “We played hard.”

Shannon Chester paced the Hornets with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4steals and 5 assists. Following with 9 points, 7 rebounds and ablocked shot was Haley Sones.

Pacing the Bulldogs was Paige Webster with 20 points. Shareka Huntscored 12 points.

Junior varsity girls

Franklin County won 29-12 over Loyd Starin the junior varsity girls game.

Powering Loyd Star with 4 points each were Leah Britt, Erica Smithand Shuntell Dillion.

Erica Jenkins and Dantrice Bridges netted 6 points apiece forFranklin Co.