The Lincoln County junior high boys’ basketball tournament concluded with the consolation game and championship Thursday night at Bogue Chitto.

In the consolation game the Enterprise Yellow Jackets pulled away for a 40-29 win over West Lincoln. The championship contest saw the Loyd Star Hornets win their second straight county title with a tough 39-37 win over the Bobcats on their home court.

The beginning of the consolation game saw both teams go scoreless for a time before the Jackets went on a 7-0 run.

Despite trailing 11-4 with over three minutes left in the first half, West Lincoln closed up the gap and found themselves trailing by just four points, 18-14, heading into halftime.

West Lincoln cut the lead down to two points at the start of the second half, but that’s the closest they would come for the rest of the game.

Enterprise held a 28-17 lead heading into the final quarter.

Sangyin Stewart led the West Lincoln offense with 18 points. Sawyer Prestridge added six points for the Bears. Also scoring for West Lincoln were Taylor Myers and Carson Temple with two points each and Baylor Sills with three points. Other members of the WL team for coach Brooks Smith include Zach Floyd, Matt Newman, Hayden Skates, Jai Fells and Shawn Lazarus.

Enterprise coach Shane Adams saw his Yellow Jackets led by 11 points by Gavin Regouffre. Jaydon Stewart added eight points, Daylan Bourdan chipped in five points, Ty Terrell scored four points and Wyatt Garrett added two points for the Yellow Jackets. Other members of the Enterprise team included Tre Vining, Landon McNickles, Keegan King, Nick Harris, Jerod Nations, Mitchell Clifton, Ty Terrell, Michael Magee and Jamie Fulgham.

In the championship matchup Bogue Chitto jumped up 5-0 to start the game.

Both teams would battle back and forth as the game would see lead changes and ties.

Bogue Chitto hit a buzzer beater to take a 9-7 lead as the first quarter came to an end.

The Bobcats attempted to separate from Loyd Star in the second quarter, but the young Hornets hung around, trailing 19-18 heading into halftime.

The third period saw both teams continue to fight it out for some kind of separation and lead changes, with Loyd Star taking a close 31-30 lead into the fourth.

Bogue Chitto got a team high 13 points from Landon Thomas. Ken May chipped in seven points for the Bobcats while Noah Magee and Dre Quarrals added six points each. Jax Leggett added two points for the Bobcats. Other members of the BC team for coach Robbie Walters include Easton Sartin, Rod Collins, Colten Kimble, Gatlin Gynes, Tarvis Collins, Jabari Stafford, Austin Moak, Chris Peyton and Bryce Blackwell.

Loyd Star was led by 11 points from Caden Yarborough. Colby Terrell added nine point and Cayman Harveston scored seven points. Caleb Smith scored five points for the Hornets and coach Seth Britt and Nathan Mills chipped in five points.

Other members of the Loyd Star team include Ethan Smith, Tyler Leggett, Braxton Williams, Nathan Poole, Kane Case, Xavier Vaughn, Eli Thornton, Knox Leggett, Brandon Jenkins and Mark Hodges.

“This was an exciting game and for those that didn’t come out to see it they missed a great one,” said coach Britt. “Both teams fought to the very end and neither deserved to lose the game. Unfortunately, one team ended up having to lose but luckily, we were able to come out with a two-point win against a well-coached team. Bogue Chitto came out a lot more aggressively than we did but we found our groove in the second half.”

Story by Dave Linton