Senior guard Jay Case shot the lights out Friday night inleading the West Lincoln Bears to a 72-46 triumph over the NatchezCathedral Green Wave. He finished with a game-high 35 points,sacking 5 treys as the host Bears remained unbeaten in 16games.

West Lincoln’s Lady Bears overcame serious foul trouble to beatCathedral’s girls 39-31 in a Region 7-1A test in Jack CaseGymnasium. They were powered by senior forward Katie Mullins whopumped in 14 points before fouling out.

The Bears (16-0, 1-0), loaded with high state tournamentexpectations in March, are heavily favored to win the Region 7-1Acrown. Cathedral, a football power in 1A, was no match for them asthe Bears roared to a 40-22 halftime lead, sparked by Case’s 24first-half points.

“If you leave (Case) open, he’s going to hit it,” said Cathedralcoach Peter Arnold. His Green Wave (6-7, 1-1) fell behind 60-335entering the fourth quarter.

The lopsided lead allowed West Lincoln coach Lane Young tosubstitute early. Case was joined in double figures by Calvin Keeswith 11 points.

On the backboards, Logan King, Lucas Burris and Darrius Clark eachhad 6 rebounds for the Bears. Case made 5 steals and Jared Casedished out 6 assists.

“Jay shot it good,” said Coach Young. “Our other guards didn’tshoot the ball very good. Cathedral played hard.”

Cathedral was paced by Luke Whitaker’s 12 points.

The Lady Bears (9-7, 1-0) raced to an early 12-2 lead, making threestraight treys. Shots failed to fall for much of the game and foultrouble became serious. Senior guard Karli Herrington fouled outwith 6:03 left in the game and the Lady Bears leading by 10 points,33-23.

Mullins bowed out with less than two minutes remaining. Cathedral’sNana Kumi made the first of two free throw attempts, pulling theGreenies within 4 points, 35-31. Marisa Pruski, who netted 11points, gave the hosts some breathing room with 2 free throws.Tamasha Buckley also hit a pair to hold off NC’s rally.

“We made a bunch of careless mistakes and took some bad shots,”said Young. “We had two of our seniors foul out. We have got tomake our free throws. We missed 10 in the second half.”

Cathedral (4-9, 1-1), coached by Bernita Dunbar, gave a spiritedeffort. “My girls play hard and we are working to get better,” saidthe second-year head coach.

Guard Ginny Daggett led Cathedral with 11 points. Center WesleyCallaway grabbed 5 rebounds.

Junior Varsity Results

West Lincoln beat Cathedral f53-24 in a junior varsity boys game,led by Darius Clark’s 17 points. Sam Bivens had 14 points andLaKeith Ward 12.

Cathedral got 8 points from Kalil Brice. Trevor Farmer and Sam Furyeach had 6 points.