Region 7-2A hoops finals set for tonight at West Lincoln

Published 11:01 am Friday, February 15, 2019

The semifinal matchups on Thursday night in the Region 7-2A tournament saw higher seeds winning every game but one as the championship pairings are now set.

In the girls’ finals at 7  p.m. tonight the top seeded West Lincoln Lady Bears (21-5) try for their second straight region championship when they face off against the Bogue Chitto Lady Bobcats (19-8). In the boys’ finals the top seeded Loyd Star Hornets (17-9) will square off with the No. 3 seed West Lincoln Bears (15-11) at 8:30 p.m.

The 4 p.m. consolation game sees the Loyd Star Lady Hornets (12-12) play the Enterprise Lady Yellow Jackets (7-17). The boys’ consolation game features the Bogue Chitto Bobcats (7-20) taking on the Amite County Trojans in a 5:30 p.m. matchup.

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Here’s a brief look at how things went in the semifinals played on Thursday night.

West Lincoln 70, Enterprise 31 (Girls)

The homestanding Lady Bears were in a close game early on with the Lady Jackets as WL only led 24-20 at halftime. In the second half the Lady Bears turned up the pressure to outscore the Lady Jackets in a big way.

“We’ve got to play the whole game the way we did in the second half,” said West Lincoln coach Brooks Smith. “I don’t think we were ready tonight to face off against a team like Enterprise that scraps all game long.”

The Lady Bears had four players in double digits led by Katelyn Dickerson led with 18 points. Skylar Hall netted 16 points, Bailey Wilson added 13 points, and senior Megan Gerald made 10 points.

Breyauna Johnson led the Lady Yellow Jackets with 10 points.

 

Loyd Star 66, Bogue Chitto 47 (Boys)

The No. 1 seeded Hornets led 33-27 at halftime and a 42-39 margin after three quarters before a big fourth quarter put them into the championship game.

“It was a great win tonight,” said Loyd Star coach Seth Britt. “It took us until halftime to start getting into the rhythm of the game. Junior guard Reese DeHart did a great job for us tonight.”

Senior Dane Smith led the Hornets with 15 points and fellow senior Zabien Price added 14 points. DeHart and Jett Calcote each added 11 points apiece.

Zack Upkins scored nine points for BC. Darius Porter and Malik Richarson scored eight points each for the Bobcats.

 

Bogue Chitto 47, Loyd Star 36 (Girls) 

The Bogue Chitto defense was smothering as the Lady Bobcats won their third straight game over the Lady Hornets after dropping their first meeting this season at the county tournament. Bogue Chitto led 26-11 at halftime.

“I was really proud of the defense tonight,” said Bogue Chitto coach Robby Walters. “Our defense set the tone early and kept Loyd Star off their game.”

The Lady Bobcats were led by Katelynn Palmer with 14 points. Senior Karly Leake added 11 points and DeAnna Edwards chipped in eight points.

Aubrey Britt led the Lady Hornets with 12 points. Carly Beth Wallace added seven points. Emma Falvey and Christie Patterson each scored five points.

 

West Lincoln 58, Amite County 55 (Boys)

The only “upset” of the night was the No. 3 seeded Bears winning over the No. 2 seeded Trojans. The teams had split their regular season matchups with a pair of close games.

WL led 44-31 heading into the fourth quarter before the Trojans came storming back. Amite County cut the lead to one, but the Bears made late free throws as a pair by junior guard Anthony “Peanut” Hughes sealed the win.

“It was great to get a win against Amite County,” said West Lincoln coach Brooks Smith. “We faced them three times last year and lost all three by no more than two points.”

Karlton Byrd led the Bear offense with 16 points and senior guard Garrison Coffey chipped in 14 points.