Ann Shelby Davis said it was a matter of defense. Davis and herWesson teammates worked hard on defense and turned back the HindsAHS girls 48-44 Friday night in the championship finals of theDivision 6-2A Basketball Tournament at Enterprise.

Wesson (25-5), finishing first in the regular season divisionrace, will host Richton Monday night in the opening round of theSouth Mississippi 2A playoffs.

“We had a great game plan,” said Davis. “We got (Hinds) out oftheir game plan with our defense.”

A packed gymnasium crowd, estimated at 600 plus, witnessed theshowdown. It was reported to be the first district title for theWesson girls since the early 1980s.

“Nobody at Wesson had won it in a while,” said Davis, a 5-10junior who finished with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 stealsand 2 blocked shots. She was joined in double digits by guardsMacie Case and Ansley Schimmel with 11 and 10 pointsrespectively.

Wesson coach Hugh Webb was delighted with his team’schampionship. “It was a great win. Our girls really topped offtheir season.”

Keenly aware of Hinds’ accurate 3-point shooters, Webb placedhis team in a specially designed “3 And I” defense to put extracoverage on the Lady Bulldogs’ outside shooters. It worked as Hindsonly made 1 of 10 treys.

Locked in a tight battle, Wesson broke a 40-40 deadlock whenSchimmel sacked a trey and followed with layup, pushing the Cobrasahead 45-40 with 2:43 left to play.

The Bulldogs (18-9) missed 2 treys on consecutive trips down thefloor. Freshman Eugena Grigsby finished with 14 points and 8rebounds.

Davis, Case and sophomore post Shauntay Walker were named to theAll-Division Team and Case received the Sportsmanship Award. Walkerhad 8 rebounds and Christina Fink 6 in the victory.

Loyd Star Third

The Lady Hornets (22-7) rebounded from a semifinals loss toHinds and whipped Madison St. Joseph 59-32 in the consolation gameas senior center Haley Sones sacked 21 points and senior guardShannon Chester 18.

Loyd Star will play at Lumberton Monday night. Tipoff is 7p.m.

“We played a more complete game and controlled the tempo,” saidLoyd Star coach Billy Vaughn, reviewing his team’s victory.

Chester finished with 18 rebounds and 8 assists. Sones snared 11rebounds and blocked 6 shots.

Tyesha Patterson grabbed 9 rebounds and Courtney Watts 8 as LoydStar took a 29-16 halftime lead. Leah Britt made 4 assists andBrandy Jackson had 4 steals.

St. Joe senior guard Brittany Bailey, named the Division 6-2APlayer of the Year, led the Lady Bruins with 15 points. Bailey wasnamed MVP last year.