MONTICELLO — Lawrence County and Wesson split a varsity double-header in high school basketball action Monday night at LCHS. In a dandy boys’ game, Wesson’s Dartavious Dixon scored on a driving layup in the waning seconds as the Cobras struck for a 67-65 win. In girls’ action, Lawrence County claimed a hard-earned 48-41 win.

Dixon’s late basket helped Rusty Newman’s Cobras improve to 7-4 on the season, and avenge a 13-point loss to Lawrence County two weeks earlier. Dixon had a huge game for Wesson, with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists.

The final three minutes of the game featured three ties and four lead changes. Lawrence County’s final lead came at 62-60 on a Gabriel Lewis 3-pointer. After Dixon put the Cobras ahead 63-62 with a 3-pointer of his own, Lewis knotted the game at 63-63 with 49 seconds remaining, making one-of-two free throws.

A Marquis Lofton jumper with 34 seconds left gave Wesson a two-point lead, but LCHS responded with Phillip Moore’s driving layup at the 20-second mark. That set up Dixon’s game-ending heroics.

Lofton had 14 points, six assists, and eight steals for Wesson. Tyler Christmas added 12 points, and Anthony Jones, 11, as the Cobras employed a balanced scoring attack.

Gabriel Lewis hit five 3-pointers en route to a 20-point, seven rebounds, five steals night for the Cougars. Keith Davis added 13. Keyshawn Feazell and Gaylon Pittman also hit double figures with 10 points each. Pittman led Lawrence County in rebounding with eight.

Pat Bridges’ Cougars fell to 3-7 with the loss.

“I thought we played well,” said Newman, a former Lawrence County assistant. “We did a good job of blocking out. That really hurt us the first time we played them. We also did a better job in transition defense.

“At the end, it was back and forth, back and forth. Our guys were able to make the plays they had to make to win it.”

In the girls’ contest, Lawrence County struggled through a cold-shooting first quarter as Wesson grabbed an 11-5 lead. The Lady Cougars heated things up in the second quarter, however, outscoring Wesson 17-4, and taking a 22-15 halftime lead.

Wesson, spurred on by lightening-quick point guard Brandi McInnis, cut the Lady Cougar lead down to two points in the second half, but LCHS prevailed. Lawrence County got a huge night out of senior center DaKendra Collins, who tallied 19 points, 13 rebounds, and two blocked shots.

Freshman guard Haven Johnson contributed 10 points, three rebounds, and three assists. Deneisha Dickson had 8 points and three assists. The Lady Cougars hit 16 of 19 free throws in improving to 3-9 on the season.

“It wasn’t a great game for us,” said Rutland, “but we’re happy to get the win. You’ll win a lot of those close games when you shoot free throws like we did tonight.”

McInnis led Wesson with 11 points, six rebounds, and two assists. Jashia Smith added nine points. Aurianna Vaughn and Kayla Britt each scored five points. Vaughn pulled down five rebounds, and Britt handed out two assists.

Lawrence County will next be in action on Friday, at Wayne County. The Lady Cougars will take on Quitman, and the Cougars will play host Wayne County. Wesson will be at McLaurin on Friday.