The Loyd Star Hornets and the Lady Hornets capture two big Region 7-2A victories over the West Lincoln Bears Tuesday night in Jack Case Gymnasium.

In the girls’ contest, the Lady Hornets defeated the Lady Bears 48-30

In boys’ action, the Hornets came out strong in the first half to sting the Bears 82-64.

Loyd Star returns home to host the Bassfield Yellowjackets Friday for another big division test. The junior varsity boys will begin the action at 5 p.m. The varsity girls are schedule to start at 6 p.m., followed by the varsity boys’ game.

West Lincoln will also in action Friday night as they travel to Columbia to face the East Marion Eagles for a Region 7-2A contest. The junior varsity girls will tip off the action at 5 p.m., followed by a pair of varsity games.

Loyd Star 48, West Lincoln 30 

The Lady Hornets and the Lady Bears (6-4, 2-4) battled in a close game in the first quarter of action as Loyd Star managed to claim an 11-7 lead.

In the second quarter, the Lady Hornets (14-4, 4-1) continued to control the pace of the contest as they outscored the Lady Bears 10-6 to take a 21-13 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Loyd Star overwhelmed West Lincoln with a 27-17 push in the final two quarter of action to remain in the hunt for first place in the Region 7-2A race.

“The girls played a complete game offensively and defensively,” said Loyd Star coach Gene “Moochie” Britt. “We shot the ball really well and played together as a team. I was very pleased with our bench play. Berguron played an outstanding game for us tonight. Overall, we are glad to get these two big division wins against West Lincoln.”

Hannah Dickerson powered the Hornets offensive attack with 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Faith Berguron provided a big lift for the Lady Hornets from the bench with 12 points, three rebounds, and three steals. Marcey Given contributed six points and four rebounds. Jordan helped on the boards with six rebounds and added four points. Megan Givens scored five points.

Hanna Moak was the scorer fort he Lady Bears with 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Demeshia Deer also had seven rebounds and scored six points. Alli Mullins chipped in with six points.

“Loyd Star is a very good job controlling the game,” said West Lincoln coach Lane Young. “We need to put forth a better effort and shoot the ball if we expect to compete.”

Loyd Star 82, West Lincoln 64 

The Hornets (14-4, 4-1) came out and quickly dominated the Bears in the first half of action as they took a commanding 17-9 lead after one quarter of play, before exploding with a 31-11 blast in the second quarter to take a commanding 48-20 lead into halftime.

In the second half, the Bears (8-12, 3-3) managed to find their offensive rhythm and outscored Loyd Star 44-34 in the final frames of action, but could not overcome the Hornets’ large lead to collect the win.

“The first half was the best we have played all year,” said Britt. “We shot the ball well and played great defensively, In the second half, we did not perform well. West Lincoln did a good job fighting back, but our guys did a great job fighting until the very end to collect the win.”

The Hornets had five players scoring in double figures as Senior forward Caleb Yarborough led the charge with a 20 points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals. Edrick Alsworth provided a double-double performance with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Levi Redd chipped in with 14 points and had six rebounds. Javion Beard contributed 13 points. Brad Jasper netted 10 points.

Ronnie Edwards and Zekenith Porters were the offensive leaders for the Bears with 18 points apiece. Javian Mackabee had a double-double performance for West Lincoln with 12 points and 15 rebounds.

“Loyd Star did everything right offensively and defensively in the first half,” said Young. “We just could not get anything going in the first half. In the second half, we played a lot better. We played inspired ball and did not give up.”

In junior varsity boys action,  West Lincoln defeated Loyd Star 26-21.

Seth Bivens led the Bears with 15 points. Landon Lynch chipped in with seven points.

Greg Hook directed the Hornets with 11 points. Zach Arnold contributed six points.