WESSON – The Wesson Cobras used their speed and depth to overwhelm the Lake Hornets 64-56 Tuesday night in the qualifying round of the MHSAA Class 2A South State Playoffs in the Snake Pit.

“We are thankful to be moving on to the next round,” said Wesson coach Rusty Newman. “I am proud of the guys. They fought and played hard until the end.”

Wesson (21-10) advances to the 2A South State Tournament to battle the Bay Springs Bulldogs at 5:30 p.m., Thursday. The tournament will be hosted by Bassfield. The Bulldogs crushed East Webster 78-37 yesterday.

The tournament begins Thursday at 4 p.m. and ends on Saturday with the championship.

The top two teams will advance to play in the State Tournament in Jackson, March 1.

Wesson 64, Lake 56

The Cobras and Hornets provided their basketball fans with a tough and exciting battle as both teams battled back-and-forth in the contest.

Wesson relied on their speed and toughness to take a commanding 18-12 lead after one quarter of action.

In the second quarter, the Cobras continued their aggressiveness to increase their lead and to 32-21 at halftime.

In the second half, Lake (16-13) rallied and outscored Wesson 16-11 to trim the Cobras’ lead and trail Wesson 43-37 at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Cobras turned up the heat on the Hornets with their high-octane offense and aggressive defense to increase their lead.

Senior guards Terry Brown and Eddie McCullum provided strong leadership for Wesson with a game-high 14 points apiece. Dartavious Dixon netted 10 points.

“We came out with great intensity and got our offense rolling early,” said Newman. “We managed to create some turnovers on defense to get some easy transition baskets in the first half. In the second half, the guys did a good job fighting off Lake’s rally to capture the win.”

Kartavious Hunt was the offensive leader for the Hornets with a team-high 13 points. Chris Washington contributed 12 points.

“Wesson’s atmosphere bothered us in the first half,” said Lake coach Victor Gilstrap. “We struggled to get things going offensively and defensively.

“In the second half, we came out more relaxed and played a lot better. Wesson did a great job making the plays they needed to get the win.”