COLUMBIA – Lawrence County swept a Division 7-4A basketball double-header from Columbia Friday night, at Columbia High School.

In girls’ play, it was quite a battle, with Lawrence County outscoring Columbia 9-2 in the final two minutes to grab a 46-42 victory. In a rowdy boys’ game, Lawrence County pulled away in the third quarter, and held on for a 56-47 win.

The girls’ game was a rough-and-tumble defensive struggle, with the two teams combining for 41 fouls and 59 free throws. It was close throughout. Lawrence County carved out a lead as large as seven points in the second quarter, and twice stretched out 5-point leads in the second half.

Columbia dominated the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, however, and forged a 40-37 lead with two minutes to play. Lawrence County’s DeNeisha Dickson knotted the game at 40-40 with an NBA-range three-pointer. Zipporah Baylis then made two straight baskets to give LCHS a 44-40 lead.

Columbia’s K’Ja Weary made things interesting with 30 seconds left, scoring to cut the Lady Cougar lead to 44-42. With 8 seconds left, the Lady Cougars clinched it, with Baylis feeding Kametrius Leggett for a layup.

“That was quite a game, quite a win,” Lady Cougar coach Vicki Rutland said. “Nothing came easily for us tonight, especially on offense. Columbia has a big size advantage on us. But I’m proud of the way our girls kept battling. That was a great team win.

Baylis led LCHS with 14 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Haven Johnson scored 10, converting eight of 11 free throws. Dickson had eight points and four steals. Leggett added seven points and five rebounds.

The Lady Cougars improved to 13-10 overall and 4-3 in the division with the win. Weary had 16 points to lead the Lady Wildcats, coached by former Hattiesburg mentor Yamah Jones.

The boys’ game was close through the first half, but Pat Bridges’ Cougars began to separate in the third quarter, growing their lead to as many as 13 points. Keith Davis led Lawrence County with 16 points. He was joined in double figures by Gabriel Lewis, who had 13, and Keyshawn Feazell, who added 12.

Feazell also had eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Davis, Lewis, Shacorey Pittman and Phillip Moore each had four rebounds for the Cougars, and Moore handed out four assists.

Things got a bit frisky late in the game as four different Wildcats were hit with technical fouls and a Cougar player was ejected for having gotten two. Hard fouls were the norm in a fourth quarter that lasted almost 40 minutes, but both teams escaped relatively unscathed.

“Our guys did a good job,” Bridges said. “It was a tough night. Things got a little testy, but our players handled themselves well, and they should be commended for that.”

Lawrence County improved to 15-8 overall and 6-1 in Division 7-4A play. The Cougars currently hold second place in the division, one game behind reigning 4A state champion McComb.

LCHS will host McComb on Tuesday night.