MONTICELLO – Lawrence County swept a varsity basketball double-header from Purvis Friday night in the Division 7-4A opener for both schools.

In girls’ action, Vicki Rutland’s Lady Cougars rolled to a 72-34 win. In the boys’ game, Pat Bridges’ Cougars clawed out a 63-53 win.

The Lawrence County girls, in the midst of a major rebuilding project, saw some of their efforts come to fruition Friday night. Basking in the glow of having made five straight trips to the South State weekend tournament, but stuck with a 3-16 record after non-division play, the Lady Cougars had their best night of the season against winless Purvis.

Sixteen LCHS girls saw action and 12 of them scored, as the Lady Cougars improved to 4-16 overall and 1-0 in the division. Freshman Haven Johnson led Lawrence County with 12 points. Deneisha Dickson and Briana Errington added 10 points each.

“We did have a good night,” said Rutland. “Granted, Purvis isn’t as strong as many of the teams on our schedule, but this isn’t about Purvis or any other opponent. It’s about us being the best we can be. What I really liked was the way the effort and execution stayed at a pretty high level throughout the game, even though we used so many different players.”

Dickson and Alexsundria Thomas led the Lady Cougars with six rebounds each. Latasha Rhodes had four steals, and Nikedra Brown handed out three assists. Point guard Samantha Sattler was outstanding for Purvis in defeat. The lightning-quick Sattler scored 24 of the Lady Tornadoes’ 34 points.

Pat Bridges’ boys  also had a good night, having to overcome one of Mississippi’s top scorers to earn the important division win. Purvis junior David Davis entered the game averaging 29 points per game. He put up 35 on Friday, but that wasn’t enough to beat the Cougars.

LCHS took control of the game in the first half, roaring to a 37-21 halftime lead. Amazingly, the small but high-flying Davis scored all 21 of Purvis’ first-half points. In the second half, the Cougars’ lead fluctuated from as many as 22 points to as few as 10, but the Tornadoes never cut the margin to single digits.

Gaylon Pittman led Lawrence County with 18 points. Keith Davis and Phillip Moore each had 13. Keyshawn Feazell added nine points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and two blocked shots. Gabriel Lewis also had six assists.

“It was a good win for us,” said Bridges, whose Cougars improved to 5-12 overall, and 1-0 in the division. “Obviously, Davis is a tremendous scorer who is going to get his points, but I thought we did a decent job on him in the second half. It’s good to be 1-0.

“Hopefully, we’ll put together a string of good games in division play.”

Purvis, coached by Charles Neely, fell to 5-8 with the loss.

Lawrence County will resume Division 7-4A action at Columbia on Tuesday. The Cougars and Lady Cougars will return home to host McComb on Friday.