Here’s a look at how area teams faired on Tuesday in the opening round of MHSAA boys’ basketball playoff action.

Bogue Chito 60, Lake High 52

The Bogue Chitto Bobcats were able to survive and advance in the opening round of the MHSAA 2A State Tournament on Tuesday at home.

Bogue Chitto saw a once 24-point lead get whittled down to four before making plays late to eliminate the Lake Hornets (10-13).

The Bobcats (19-5) move on to play at Velma Jackson (18-11) on Saturday in a second-round game that is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.

The win was the first 2A playoff victory in school history and the first postseason win for BC boys’ basketball since 2017, when the Bobcats reached the third round of the 1A state tournament.

The winning record posted by Bogue Chitto this season is the first time for the boys’ basketball team at the school to finish above .500 since the 2010-2011 campaign.

Bogue Chitto had three players reach double figures, led by sophomore point guard Devonta “Bam” Thompson with 24 points. Junior guard Shomari Jenkins scored 12 points and senior Cameron Williams added 10 points. Rounding out the scoring for Bogue Chitto was freshman forward Randy Crisler with six points, sophomore Noah Magee with six points and senior Jay May with two points.

Velma Jackson beat North Forrest 56-28 in the first round on Tuesday. The Falcons are a school with a rich basketball tradition and play a tough schedule against 5A/6A competition such as Callaway High, Northwest Rankin, Canton High, Forest Hill, Madison Central, Germantown High and others.

The lone loss this season for VJ to another 2A school was a 61-55 defeat at their region rival Scott Central on Jan. 3. Velma avenged that loss by beating Scott Central by 42 points and 17 points in two later meetings.

Last season Velma Jackson finished as the MHSAA 2A runners-up after losing 43-39 to Pine Grove in the state championship game.

West Harrison 57, Brookhaven High 49

The 2022-2023 season ended for Brookhaven High on the road Tuesday at West Harrison High in the first round of the MHSAA 5A Tournament. BHS head coach Charlton Grey and his assistants Danarius Gray and Willie Bates saw their team finish third in the region tournament and earn a playoff berth by beating Natchez High 62-59 in the consolation game.

It was a nice bounce-back after Natchez beat Brookhaven 61-44 at NHS on Jan. 27. The Panthers ended up in the consolation game after losing 52-43 to Florence in the region tournament semifinals.

Florence then went on to lose the region championship game to the host West Jones Mustangs by a 63-62 final score.

West Harrison (9-14) moves on to face Hattiesburg (20-7) in the second round of the playoffs.

Brookhaven High finishes 11-17 overall and loses a senior class made up of JJ Rice, Trillion Williams, Tyson Byrd and Amareon Dunnigan.

Junior guard Jaylen Haliburton will return as the team’s leading scorer and has been selected to play for the South Team in the upcoming MAC 4A/5A/6A All-Star Game on March 18 at Mississippi College.

The Panthers will face new division competition beginning with the 2023-2024 season. They’ll be members of Region 3-5A along with Florence High, Natchez High, North Pike, Provine High and South Jones.

Lawrence County 71, Northeast Jones 35

Coach Pat Bridges and Lawrence County moved on the second round of the MHSAA 4A State Tournament with a dominating home win over Northeast Jones in Monticello on Monday.

LC earned the right to host a home game after finished as runners-up in the region tournament to Forrest County AHS. A 50-43 win by FCAHS in Brooklyn was the third time this season for the Aggies (25-2) to beat Lawrence County (18-10) and gave the home team the region tournament title. Forrest County is currently riding a 23-game winning streak.

Senior guard Keith Taylor leads Lawrence County with a 15.7 points per game average. Senior guard Trey Jones is also chipping in 12.9 points per night.

Next up for LC is a matchup with one of the kings of 4A basketball in Mississippi, the Raymond Rangers.

Raymond is 24-6, has won 14 games in a row and has not lost to a 4A school this season. The Rangers have played in the 4A state title game the last six consecutive years.

RHS won three straight titles from 2017-2019 and then lost in the championship game in back-to-back seasons before winning the 2022 title last year with a win over Clarksdale.

Kemper County 72, Loyd Star 63

Loyd Star (13-12) battled valiantly, but couldn’t overcome Kemper County (9-12) in DeKalb on Tuesday in the first round of the MHSAA 2A State Tournament.

The Hornets were without coach Seth Britt who couldn’t travel to the game due to illness. In his place, the team was led by coaches Chris King and April Thornton.

Loyd Star has three standout seniors that they’ll lose to graduation in starting guards Blake Thornton, Julius Smith and Nathan Mills. The trio were part of a Loyd Star team that finished as runners-up in the region tournament last season and won a playoff game before being eliminated by Newton High. As sophomores, they won the Region 7-2A Tournament after finishing as the third placed team in the regular season.

This season was one filled with close losses for the Hornets. They lost by four to Lake High, five points to Puckett High, by four points to East Marion, and six points at Bogue Chitto. In the Region 7-2A Tournament semifinals, they lost to eventual tourney champions East Marion by a 67-63 final score in overtime.

Next season Region 7-2A will include Loyd Star, Bogue Chitto, West Lincoln and Amite County. East Marion will move out of the region and will be replaced with Wilkinson County High.

McAdams 89, Enterprise 38

The McAdams Bulldogs are one of the title contenders in the MHSAA 1A State Tournament and on Monday they flexed their considerable muscle in eliminating Enterprise in the opening round.

McAdams moves to 21-2 with the win while EAC and coach Shane Adams finish the season with a 7-15 record.

Enterprise loses just two seniors from this team but both are staters in forward Wes Williams and shooting guard Payne Waldrop.

Richton was the only member of Region 8-1A, the region that Enterprise plays in, that won a first round game on Monday in the 1A tourney.

Richton defeated Ethel 69-53, Sebastopol topped Resurrection 63-58 in overtime and Leake County eliminated Salem 68-58.

Next season Region 8-1A will be Enterprise, Salem, Sacred Heart of Hattiesburg, Resurrection, Lumberton and East Marion.