COLUMBIA – The West Lincoln Bears and Lady Bears captured two big divisional wins over the East Marion Eagles Friday night in Region 7-2A basketball action.

In the girls’ game, the Lady Bears controlled the flow of the contest to prevail 33-23 over the Lady Eagles.

In boys’ action, the Bears came out and dominated the Eagles in the first three quarters of action to gain a 77-55 win over East Marion.

With the pair of victories, Coach Lane Young collected his 500th career win as the girls and boys coach at West Lincoln.

West Lincoln returns home to welcome the Amite County Trojans to Jack Case Gymnasium Tuesday for another huge district test. The junior varsity boys will begin the action at 5 p.m., followed by a pair of varsity games.

West Lincoln 33, East Marion 23 

The Lady Bears and the Lady Eagles battled in a low scoring contest in the first half of action as West Lincoln secured a 8-2 advantage after one quarter of play.

In the second quarter, the Lady Eagles soared past West Lincoln with a 8-4 run, but trailed the Lady Bears 12-10 at halftime.

In the second half, the Lady Bears (7-14, 3-3) came out and controlled the pace of the contest with their patience style of offensive to increase their lead with a 8-2 run to take a 20-12 lead after three quarters of action.

In the final period, both teams turned up the heat on offense, but West Lincoln prevailed with a 13-11 run to secure the win.

“We managed to control the game from start to finish,” West Lincoln Coach Lane Young said. “The girls played really well in the second half to get the win.”

Junior guard Alli Mullins directed the Lady Bears attack with 11 points. Demeshia Deer and Hanna Moak contributed seven points each. Moak was the leader on the boards with seven rebounds. Layton Sill scored five points.

The Lady Eagles were lead in scoring by Asia Harvey with 10 points. Dajona Oatis chipped in with five points.

West Lincoln 77, East Marion 55 

The Bears (9-12, 4-3) came out and quickly overwhelmed the Eagles to seize a 18-8 lead after one quarter of action.

In the second quarter, both teams fought in a close contest, but West Lincoln managed to maintain control with a 16-13 push to carry a 34-21 lead into halftime.

In the second half, West Lincoln clobbered the Eagles in the third quarter with a 21-12 run to increase their margin to 55-33 before heading into the final frame.

In the fourth quarter, the Eagles and Bears scored 22-points apiece as West Lincoln held on for the win.

“We played really well throughout the whole game,” Young said. “Offensively, we moved the ball around on offense to create some open looks. It was a good win before heading into two tough district games next week.”

Keshaun London powered the Bears’ offensive attack with 28 points. Ronnie Edwards pumped in 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Lofton Sill contributed 13 points and also helped on the boards with eight rebounds. Seth Bivens collected seven rebounds and scored two points.

Cordell Echols and John Rawls led the Eagles on offense with 11 points a piece, Malik Rawls provided seven points.

In junior varsity girls action,  West Lincoln defeated East Marion 31-13.

Megan Gerald paced the Lady Bears with 10 points, and Jana Case scored eight points.