LUMBERTON — Center Haley Sones sacked 20 points and guardShannon Chester netted 16 in leading the Loyd Star Lady Hornets toa 46-43 Monday night victory against Lumberton’s Lady Panthers inthe opening round of the South Mississippi Class 2A basketballplayoffs.

Loyd Star (23-7) plays Thursday at Scott Central, near Forest,in the South Mississippi quarterfinals. The Lady Hornets faceKemper County at 4 p.m. Kemper County is No. 1 out of Division5-2A.

Bay Springs plays Hinds AHS at 5:30, East Marion plays ScottCentral at 7 and Wesson meets Newton at 8:30.

Thursday’s winners advance to Friday’s semifinals and areguaranteed of a Saturday game, either the consolation orchampionship.

Loyd Star’s boys host Lumberton tonight at 7 p.m. as SouthMississippi 2A action continues.

On the backboards, Chester collected 12 rebounds for Loyd Star.Sones grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked 4 shots. Courtney Watts had 6rebounds.

Chester also had 8 assists and 4 steals in the win. She made 2free throws to give her team a 5-point lead with 17 seconds left toplay.

“Our girls did a good job of sticking with the game plan,” saidCoach Billy Vaughn. “We controlled the boards and the tempo.

The Lady Panthers (19-11) got 17 points from Keisha Holder. Theyled 17-12 at the quarter but Loyd Star rallied to lead 29-24 athalftime.