The young Loyd Star girls’ basketball team gave Region 7-2A leading West Lincoln all they could handle on Friday, but the veteran Bears used a big second half to take the lead and hold on for a 48-40 victory which pushed their winning streak to 10 games.

WL and coach Lane Young are now 16-5 overall and 4-0 in region play. The team will meet again on Jan. 27 at West Lincoln.

Loyd Star first year head coach Rusty Newman started two seniors (Avery Sellers, Josie Breakfield), one sophomore (Maddie Kate Britt), and two freshmen (Kenzie Kay Lofton, Camille Creel). The loss drops the Hornets to 8-9 on the season.

West Lincoln led 10-7 after the first quarter, but the Hornets tied things at 10-10 after Britt knocked down a 3-pointer to start the second quarter for the Hornets.

Back-to-back buckets by West Lincoln sophomore forward Kylie Jarancik put the Bears up 18-10 in the second quarter, but the visitors would go cold and the home team started to heat up, finishing the first half up on a 17-2 run.

Britt scored five points in the second quarter and Creel added seven points in those second eight minutes of action. The Hornets also got eight points from 5-foot-9 junior forward Micah Claire Lowe during the second quarter as Loyd Star led 27-20 at the break.

The third quarter belonged to the Bears as they outscored Loyd Star 21-4 in the period. Junior guard Chloe Sterling, senior forward Emma Quin, and senior point guard Maggy James each hit a 3-pointer for West Lincoln during that third quarter, which ended with the Bears leading 41-31.

“Somebody asked me if I really got on them at halftime,” said Young after the game. “I didn’t because they knew we needed to play better. Maggy James having to come out with two fouls in the second quarter didn’t help us in the first half.”

Sterling led the WL offensive attack with 16 points. Quin had nine points on three made 3-pointers while James scored seven points and Jarancik added five points. Junior forward Elizabeth Burton scored five points and eighth grade post player Ja’Kayla Hunter came off the bench to score seven points, all coming in the second half.

Lowe led the way for Loyd Star with a game high 18 points. Creel scored eight points and Britt finished with nine points. Breakfield scored two points, Lofton had two points and Sellers scored one point for the Hornets.

Loyd Star is scheduled to host Amite County on Jan. 24. The Hornets beat the Trojans 55-52 when the teams played in Liberty.

West Lincoln was scheduled to host Bogue Chitto on Tuesday in a game that will likely be pushed back to a later date due to the impending winter weather advisory.