BOGUE CHITTO – The Bogue Chitto Lady Cats and the St. Aloysius Flashes captured victories on the opening day of the Region 7-1A basketball action Tuesday night in Bogue Chitto’s new gym.

In the girls’ game, the Lady Cats roared past the St. Aloysius Lady Flashes 64-34.

In boys’ action, the Flashes held off Bogue Chitto’s late rally to escape with a 74-69 win over the Bobcats.

Bogue Chitto continues action Friday as they prepare to host the Hinds AHS Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs for three games in another big district test before the holidays. The junior varsity boys will tip off the action at 5 p.m. The varsity girls are set to start at 6 p.m., followed by the boys.

Bogue Chitto 64, St. Aloysius 34 

The Lady Cats (12-2, 1-0) came out flat in the first half, but manage to seize control of a 29-13 lead over the Lady Flashes at halftime.

In the second half, BC finally managed to get their offense and defense clicking as they drilled the Lady Flashes 21-8 in the third quarter and cruised to the win.

Sophomore forward Karlie Williams pumped in a game-high 21 points to lead the Lady Cats. Zariah Matthews continued the Lady Cats scoring onslaught with 12 points, four rebounds, four steals and four assists. Christian Black contributed 11 points and led on the boards with nine rebounds.

“It is good to get our first district win,” said BC coach Christi Terrell. “In the first half we looked like zombies instead of basketball players. After halftime, the girls played a lot better offensively, defensively and effort wise in the second half. Now we must get ready and focus on Hinds AHS.”

Julie Malory was the top scorer for the Lady Flashes with a team-high 13 points.

St. Aloysius 74, Bogue Chitto 69 

In the boys’ game, the Bobcats came out ice cold and struggled to get things going offensively and defensively. The Flashes were fresh from having the weekend off and played with a lot of energy to take a 28-12 lead after one quarter of action.

Bogue Chitto battled back to trim into St. Aloysius’ lead but still trailed 40-30 at halftime.

In the second half, the Bobcats charged back in spurts and outscored the Flashes 43-39, but some key free throws in the last 20 seconds of the contest helped the Flashes escape BC with the win.

Senior forward Dennis Rogers paced the Bobcats (2-10, 0-1) with a game-high 24 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals. Jeremiah Perkins was the leader on the boards for the Bobcats with 11 rebounds. Damien Terrell helped with eight rebounds.

“The guys pretty much sleep walked the first three quarters of action, before deciding to start playing in the fourth quarter,” said BC coach Mark Pitts. “Overall, we are learning to stay in the game and the guys will fight until the very end. St. Aloysius did a great job shooting the ball.”

The Flashes had three players to score in double figures. Ben Welp was the leader with 21 points. Conner Smith contributed 19 points and Matthew Foley had 10 points.