Glenn Thomas sacked a trey and Ashton Fox sank a pair of latefree throws Tuesday night, lifting the Loyd Star Hornets to anarrow 44-42 victory over the St. Andrew’s Saints in a Division6-2A showdown at Loyd Star. Fox finished with a team-high 15points.

In the varsity girls game, guard Shannon Chester ‘s 19 pointssparked the Lady Hornets to a 53-20 triumph over the St. Andrew’sLady Saints. Chester also had 6 rebounds, 6 steals and 5assists.

The Hornets (18-4, 9-2) overcame SA’s slowdowntactics to secure second place in the division race behind HindsAHS. The Saints fell to 10-13 and 4-4.

“This was a big win for us,” said Loyd Star boys coach Gene(Moochie) Britt. “St. Andrew’s slowed down the tempo and made usplay their game. They played cat-and-mouse, held the ball andkilled the clock.”

Hornet center Ricky Barnes grabbed 11 rebounds. Ron Jones had 7rebounds.

“Hopefully we can bounce back after two straight losses to HindsAHS and Loyd Star by two points apiece,” said SA coach Steven Redd.”My guys played hard the whole game.”

The Saints were led by Michael Halford’s 22 points. TrevorHanlon had 11 points and 6 rebounds.

The Lady Hornets (20-5, 10-1) claimed firstplace in the division race after Wesson ambushed Hinds AHS lastnight. Sophomore Shuntell Dillon followed Chester with 14 points.Laura Britt had 7 rebounds and 5 steals.

“We came out a little flat and started slow, but overall I waspleased with our effort,” said Loyd Star girls coach Billy Vaugn.”Once we got going, we did fine offensively and defensively.”

Vaughn’s girls led 25-8 at halftime.

“Loyd Star is a good team,” said SA first-year girls coachLaurie Wyatt. “We tried to prepare for them but they were ready forus. I wish them luck in the tournament,” which will be held atMcLaurin in two weeks.

The Lady Saints (4-18, 0-8) got 8 points and 7 rebounds from AmyHandleman.

Senior Night

It was Senior Night at Loyd Star. The honorees were Britt, EmilyVaughn, Alysha Johnson and Myranda Watts on the girls team andBarnes, Ron Jones and Matthew Henderson on the boys team.

JV Results

In a preliminary junior varsity boys game, Loyd Star beat theSaints 37-26, led by Joseph Shelby’s 20 points. Nick Britt, FredClark and DeAndrea Butler each had 4 points.

The Saints got 7 points each from Royce Reeves and ReeseJacobs.