BOGUE CHITTO — Erasing a 5-point, fourth-quarter deficit, theWest Lincoln Lady Bears beat Bogue Chitto 44-37 Friday night in thechampionship finals of the Division 8-1A Tournament. They weresparked by senior center Talashia Fells who accounted for 15 pointsand 15 rebounds in R.L. “Bob” Calhoun Gymnasium.

In the boys championship game, the near-capacity crowd watchedthe Juan Gray Show. Natchez Cathedral’s talented senior guardpoured in 29 points and conducted a basketball clinic, leading theGreen Wave to a 51-25 trouncing of the No. 1-seeded West LincolnBears who were ice cold from the field.

In the consolation games, Cathedral dumped Dexter 56-46 forthird place in the girls bracket and Dexter outscored Salem 79-67in boys action.

The West Lincoln and Bogue Chitto girls will be at home Mondaynight, hosting the first round of the South Mississippi playoffs.West Lincoln (20-8) hosts Mount Olive and Bogue Chitto (17-7) hostsPelahatchie, starting at 7 p.m.

In South boys action Tuesday night, West Lincoln (19-8) hostsStringer at 7. Cathedral (25-5) hosts Sebastopol. Both games tipoff at 7.

The third and fourth place teams must play on the road in thefirst round.

W. Lincoln 44, Bogue Chitto 37

The Lady Bears deadlocked the season’s series at 2-2.Junior forward Julie Case tossed in 12 points and snatched 8rebounds in the victory. Hannah Knouse added 8 points and 8rebounds. Playmaker Tatianna Marshall scored all 8 of her points inthe fourth quarter rally, including a trey which gained a 31-31knot.

“We ran our man offense real well the last four minutesand Tati (Marshall) played really well after getting her secondwind back,” said West Lincoln coach Lane Young. “Our defense wasreal good, too, but we missed some easy shots.”

In a big turnaround, the Lady ‘Cats overcame a cold,2-point second quarter to outscore West Lincoln 20-9 in the thirdquarter, Adrienne Hall’s 10 points in the third and 8 by DarcyMiller paced the comeback. Miller finished with 15 points and Hallgrabbed 10 rebounds.

“We played horrible the first half and West Lincolnoutplayed us,” said Bogue Chitto coach Christi Terrell. She hadseen her team take a 5-point, 31-26 lead on a trey by AneishaDillon and 7:21 left in the game.

The Lady ‘Cats committed 21 turnovers in the loss. Theywent scoreless in the first 2:50 of the third quarter beforecatching fire.

Cathedral 51, West Lincoln 25

Gray, a 5-foot-10 senior, dazzled the Bears with hisshooting, passing and ball-handling skills. He sacked 4 treys inthe game and dished out many assists. He is on Co-Lin’s protectedlist of district players.

Cathedral coach Peter Arnold said Gray was a specialplayer. “Juan is the kind of player that comes along once in yourcoaching career. My other players feed off of him.

“Six of my top seven players are seniors,” Arnold noted.”We’ve been working for this (title) a long time.”

West Lincoln, by comparison, couldn’t buy a field goal.The Bears were a frigid 10 of 42 from the field.

“Give Cathedral credit. They outplayed us in every phaseof the game,” said Coach Young. “Gray made some outstanding shotsthat would have been difficult for anyone to stop.

“We were never in it from the get-go,” Young continued.”That’s the worst we’ve played in my six years here. I did a verypoor job getting us ready.”

Cathedral led 18-9 at halftime and 31-17 entering thefourth quarter. West Lincoln’s Aaron Collins hit a trey to startthe second half but Cathedral responded with an 8-0 run to kill therally.

Nine rebounds by Jeremy Byrd led the Bears on thebackboards. Gray and Skylar Brown led the Greenies with 7 reboundsapiece.

Cathedral 56, Dexter 46

A 29-point performance by Kristian Dobard led Cathedralover Dexter. Haley Forman added 10 points.

Dexter got 10 points from Ashley Blackwell, Robin Mageeand Ebony Hampton.

Dexter 79, Salem 67

In a Walthall County showdown for third place, ChrisConerly’s 24 points paced the Bulldogs to victory. Carlos Crumedyadded 11 points and Mario Miller 10.

Salem got 23 points fro Shawn Ratcliff and 18 from AaronGaines.