Three area MHSAA teams remain alive in basketball postseason — Bogue Chitto boys, Brookhaven girls and West Lincoln girls.

 

Bogue Chitto vs. Kemper (Boys)

2A Quarterfinals

Friday (2/24), 9 p.m., Clinton HS

Bogue Chitto boys’ basketball coach Marc Howard has a young team, with just two seniors in his rotation of eight players that see the court for the Bobcats on most nights.

Last week in the second round of the MHSAA 2A State Tournament, the Bobcats showed they’ll back down from no one by getting a huge 85-73 road win over Velma Jackson in overtime.

The second-round playoff win moves the Bobcats to 20-5 on the season. Velma Jackson ended the season with an 18-12 record as BC broke a 10-game winning streak by the Falcons.

Bogue Chitto sophomore point guard Devonta Thompson was nearly unstoppable in the win as he scored 40 points to lead the Bobcats.

Thompson scored 14 points in the first quarter, the entirety of his team’s output in the first eight minutes of action. For the game, Thompson made six 3-pointers and went 10-for-10 from the free throw line.

Sophomore wing Noah Magee also had a huge game for the Bobcats against VJ, scoring 22 points. Magee hit six 3-pointers in the win. Freshman forward Randy Crisler was also in double figures with 11 points for the Bobcats. Rounding out the BC scoring was junior guard Shomari Jenkins with eight points and senior Cameron Williams with four points.

VJ and Bogue Chitto met in an equally thrilling opening girls’ game, won 56-54 by Velma Jackson (21-10).

The Bogue Chitto girls’ team got 22 points from junior center De’Mya Porter in the loss. Sophomore point guard Neeli Magee scored 15 points in the loss as did junior forward Ty May. Freshman Destinee Thompson rounded out the Bogue Chitto scoring with two points.

Kemper County is up next for the BC boys’ team. The Wildcats from DeKalb beat Loyd Star 72-63 in the first round of the playoffs and then capped the Heidelberg Oilers 65-60 in the second round.

 

Brookhaven vs. Laurel High (Girls)

5A Quarterfinals

Fri. (2/24), 4 p.m., Pearl River CC

Brookhaven High will face a familiar foe when they take on Laurel High Friday in the MHSAA 5A Tournament quarterfinals.

BHS beat Laurel 48-36 when the teams played at Brookhaven High on Jan. 17.

Coach Preston Wilson’s team beat Pearl River Central 60-39 in the first round of the playoffs at home and then topped Gautier 56-24 on the road in the second round.

The Panthers outscored Gautier 18-1 to start the game and were led by senior guard Angel “Cookie” Wilkinson with 19 points in the win.

Other scorers for Brookhaven in the win were senior Raven Smith with four points, sophomore Zaniya Nunnery with six points, senior Alexis Kelly with eight points, , senior Makiya Stallings with two points, junior Aliyah Watkins with five points and senior Leah Wilcher with 10 points.

Brookhaven and Laurel met last year in the quarterfinals, a 53-44 victory for the Panthers in Jones County.

This is the sixth consecutive year for Wilson’s team to reach the quarterfinal round of the 5A tournament.

 

West Lincoln vs. Lake High (Girls)

2A Quarterfinals

Friday (2/24), 4:30 p.m., Clinton HS

West Lincoln is shooting for a return appearance in the 2A semifinals and standing in their way is a matchup with the defending state champs, the Lake Hornets.

Coach Alissa Adams and West Lincoln are 26-1 on the season and had little trouble with their opponents in the opening two rounds. The Bears beat Nanih Waiya 59-15 in the first round and Pelahatchie 53-18 in the second round.

Lake (21-9) beat Loyd Star 77-44 in the first round and defeated Pisgah 76-50 in the second round. Lake won the 2022 2A State Championship by beating Belmont 46-44.

Coach Maurice Bowie left Lake after that win to coach boys’ basketball at his alma mater, Morton High. Bowie was replaced by former Puckett head coach Holly Moncrief.

Lake will hope to speed the game up and create turnovers by using defensive pressure in the backcourt.

The schools met in the 2021 playoffs, a 57-54 win for West Lincoln at home in the first round of the playoffs.

Senior Kara Beth Addison scored 12 points in the win over Pelahatchie for West Lincoln. Senior shooter Mary Claire Johnson kept her hot shooting streak going by scoring 14 points. Johnson hit four 3-pointers against Pelahatchie after making five in the win over Nanih Waiya.

Other scorers for WL in the win over Pelahatchie were Ta’Kyla Brothern with eight pints, Preslee Rushing with four points, Ramsey Hall with eight points, Mailey Kate Young with two points and Madilyn Case with five points.