FLORENCE — The Wesson Cobras dug themselves in a hole in thesecond quarter and never recovered. After being outscored 12-5 bythe host McLaurin Tigers, the Cobras could only play catchup theremainder of the game. The Tigers showed no mercy and posted a54-47 win Monday night, eliminating the Cobras in the first roundof the Division 6-2A Tournament.

The Cobras, under Ron Kessler, finished the season with a 16-12record. Wesson also had 23 turnovers in the game.

The Bruins, under Jason Kelly, improved to 25-9 and advance tothe next round to meet No. 1-seed Hinds AHS Thursday night at 5:30p.m.

Today’s boys bracket games feature the Loyd Star Hornets againstthe Enterprise Yellow Jackets at 5:30 and the St. Andrew’s Saintsmeeting the Madison St. Joseph Bruins at 8:30.

The Cobras led the Tigers 11-10 in the first quarter.Second-quarter play saw Wesson struggle from the floor and McLaurintake advantage for a 22-16 lead at halftime.

“We played very good defense in the first half,” said Kesslerafter the game. “We missed a bunch of high percentage shots, likelayups and free throws. In the first half, we didn’t do that.”

Wesson came back in the third quarter with a 16-12 scoring runon McLaurin to trim the deficit to 3 points, 34-31 going into thefinal frame.

The Tigers started the fourth quarter with a 6-0 run on theCobras to push their lead to 40-31 with 5:14 remaining in the game.Wesson senior forward Lonnie Reeves sacked a pair of free throws tocut the McLaurin lead to 43-35 with 3:46 left to play.

The Cobras made a run, cutting the deficit to 5 points, at the1:50 mark on senior forward Josh Hart’s putback. McLaurin respondedwith back-to-back field goals for a 52-43 lead with 58 seconds leftin the game.

McLaurin placed 4 players in double figures. Senior forwardDonnell Wells led with 16 points. Firing in 14 points was sophomoreforward Michael Young. Sedrick Walker and Ronnie Brown finishedwith 10 points apiece. Walker led off the backboards with 8points.

Reeves, who was in a auto accident last Tuesday and had notpracticed before last night, led the Cobras with 15 points. Juniorguard Cody King pumped in 10 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. Topsoff the backboards with 15 rebounds was senior forward JoshHart.

Kessler said he appreciated the seniors contribution all yearbut pointed out that younger players like freshman Kyle Cross andsophomore Jeromy Smith have a bright future with the Cobras.

“Next season starts tomorrow,” added Kessler.