The West Lincoln Lady Bears brought home a 53-41 win against the Adams County Christian Lady Rebels Thursday night. Though the she-bears left the first quarter behind 17-12, they took the lead and kept it at the end of each quarter thereafter.

“Our shot-making got us the lead in the second quarter,” said head coach Brooks Smith. “We had to be more aggressive in the second half to match the intensity of ACCS, and I thought we did a better job of doing that than we did to start the game.”

Bailey Wilson led the game in stats for West Lincoln, scoring 15 points and getting seven rebounds. Wilson also had three steals, two blocks and one assist.

The other top scorers for the Lady Bears were Brittany Sturkey, with 14, and Skylar Hall with 12. Megan Gerald and Katelyn Dickerson added eight points and four points, respectively.

West Lincoln’s varsity boys also brought home a win against Adams County Thursday, securing the game in overtime to end with 61 points over ACCS’s 57.

The Rebels led at the end of the first and third quarters, with West Lincoln tying the score at the end of each half — 20-20 at the end of the second quarter, and 52-52 to take the game into overtime.

“We’ve been involved in a ton of close games so far this year,” said Smith. “It was great to have one of these go our way for a change. We handled some adversity better tonight. While it may not show in the stat sheet, I thought Michael Brothern gave us energy off the bench with his play. We made some big free throws in the overtime to secure the win.”

Le’darrius Jones was the Bears’ leading scorer, putting up 15 points, with three rebounds and six steals. Donterrius Taylor followed close behind with 12 points, five rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. Adam Martinez was the third-highest scorer, just under Taylor with 11 points. Other West Lincoln scorers were Keshon Byrd and Garrison Coffey, with eight points each, Kartlton Byrd with six points and Michael Brothern with an additional one point.

Chase Owen sprained his ankle during the first half and did not return to the game. Smith questioned whether Owen would return for Friday night’s matchup at Natchez Cathedral. Karlton Byrd received a cut over his right eye during the fourth quarter that required stitches. Byrd returned to the game during overtime and Smith did not anticipate that he would miss any further play.

West Lincoln will return to the court after the Christmas holidays on Jan. 4 against Natchez Cathedral and Jan. 5 against North Forrest, both at home.

Records for West Lincoln as of Friday:

Junior High boys: 6-1

Junior High girls:  6-1

Junior Varsity boys: 1-1

Junior Varsity girls: 1-1

Varsity boys: 4-7

Varsity girls: 7-4