Sophomore guard Tatianna Marshall found the range in the thirdquarter and sparked the West Lincoln Lady Bears to a 55-41 Fridaynight victory over the visiting Lady Cobras of Wesson. Marshallpumped in a game-high 16 points, sacking 2 treys during her team’sthird-quarter explosion in Jack Case Gymnasium.

In the varsity boys game, witnessed by 700-plus fans, Wessonheld off West Lincoln 49-45, sparked by Matthew Cliburn and JoshHart with 14 points each and Lonnie Reeves with 13. The win gavethe visiting Cobras a rare sweep of the Bears in theirhome-and-home series.

The Lady Bears (11-7) got a pair of treys from Marshalland a jumper from Julie Case to forge a fast 8-point, 33-25 leadwith 5:03 left in the third quarter. They went up by 11 points,42-31, when Keri Easley hit a short jumper with 2:42showing.

Avenging a 65-60, Jan. 5 loss at Wesson, the Lady Bearscontinued the offensive. They took a 16-point, 49-33 lead whenEasley cashed in a 3-point play at the 5:57 mark of the fourthquarter.

“It was a tale of two halves,” said West Lincoln coachLane Young. “We got out front and played harder the second half. Wealso did a better job defending the (Ann Shelby) Davisgirl.”

Davis, a 5-10 sophomore and Wesson’s leading scorer andrebounder, finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3assists.

Senior center Talisha Fells followed Marshall with 11points, 12 rebounds and 5 steals. Moak sacked 13 points. Casecollected 6 rebounds, 6 points and 4 steals.

Wesson coach Hugh Webb complimented West Lincoln. “Wedidn’t have an answer for No. 13 (Fells) inside. We tried abox-and-one defense on Case but Kayla Moak had a real good game forthem. The Marshall girl had a big game, too.

“West Lincoln really did a good job defendingus.”

Wesson fell to 13-10 overall and remained 3-3 in theDivision 6-2A race. Wesson faces a 3-game division stretch thisweek, hosting Madison St. Joseph Tuesday and Enterprise Fridaybefore traveling to St. Joe Saturday.

The Cobras (13-8) snapped a 3-game losing streak andbeat West Lincoln for the second time this season. They used apatient offense and a solid defensive effort.

Wesson coach Ron Kessler had missed Thursday’s practicedue to a case of influenza. He said he appreciated the coachingeffort by his two assistant coaches, Mike Hux and Anita Dudley.”They did a real good job at practice.”

Kessler, in his fifth year at the helm, said it was thefirst time for him to beat West Lincoln twice in one season. “WestLincoln is a good ballclub and they have a great basketballtradition.

“We played well in spurts,” added Kessler. “Our guysresponded and we got a much-needed win.”

The Bears (11-7) made a brief challenge early in thethird quarter. Jeremy Byrd’s jumper reduced Wesson’s lead to 23-22.The Cobras responded as guard Lonnie Reeves sacked a trey andcenter Josh Hart followed with a 2-handed slam dunk after a niftybehind-the-back pass.

A baseline drive by Reeves gave Wesson its largest leadat 12 points, 42-30, with 7:23 left in the game. The Bears pulledwithin 4 points, 49-45, on Jamey Byrd’s short jumper with 19seconds left to play.

“Wesson wanted it more than we did,” said Coach Young.”We didn’t deserve to win. We played catch-up all night and nevercould get over the hump.”

Young said his team needed more leadership. “When wemade a good play, we would make a mistake and turn itover.”

Wesson led in turnovers 22-16 but the Cobras held a24-18 advantage in rebounds, directed by Hart and Cliburn with 7boards apiece. Josh Hood made 5 assists. Cliburn and Reeves eachhad 3 steals.

The Bears got 15 points, 8 rebounds and 6 steals fromJamey Byrd. Jeremy Byrd had 12 points and 6 rebounds. Point guardDave Barnett sat out the game for disciplinaryreasons.

West Lincoln plays Dexter Tuesday night in Salem’sgym.

Junior Varsity Results

In the JV girls game, West Lincoln edged Wesson 23-18,led by Karli Herrington’s 9 points. Kristen Hall and Katie Mullinseach had 4 points.

Wesson was led by McKenzie Rials, Shontay Walker andSummer Rials with 4 points each.

In the JV boys game, West Lincoln posted a 36-29victory, paced by Jay Case’s 9 points. Troy Allred added 7 points,Sawyer Pepper 6 and J.D. Montgomery 4.

Wesson got 9 points from Zack Fetcko and 5 from D.J.Coleman.