BOGUE CHITTO – The Bogue Chitto Bobcats and Lady Cats suffered two tough losses to the Pelahatchie Chiefs Friday night in Region 7-1A action at the Bobcats Palace.

In the girls’ contest, the Lady Cats suffered their first loss in division action falling to the Lady Chiefs 63-50.

In the boys’ game, the Bobcats were defeated by the Pelahatchie Chiefs 78-55.

Bogue Chitto will resume action Tuesday as they travel to Vicksburg to face the St. Aloysius Flashes. The varsity girls will start action at 6 p.m., followed by the boys at 7:30.

Pelahatchie 63, Bogue Chitto 50 

The Lady Cats and the Lady Chiefs provided an exciting contest for the basketball fans as both teams fought hard to claim the No. 1 spot in the Region 7-1A action.

In the opening quarter, the BC and Pelahatchie battled in a back and forth contest before the Lady Chiefs managed to take a 20-15 lead to end the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Lady Cats (18-5, 4-1) fought back and outscored the Lady Chiefs 10-8 but trailed Pelahatchie 28-25 at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Lady Chiefs managed to take control of the glass and increase their lead with a 16-8 run to lead 44-33 before heading into the fourth quarter.

In the final period, BC made a great attempt to rally back, but the Lady Chiefs managed to hold on by outscoring the Lady Cats 19-17 to preserve the win.

“Pelahatchie has a very athletic team,” BC Coach Christi Terrell said. “They rebounded the ball a lot better than us tonight. We need more of our girls to step up in tough games like this by controlling the ball and preventing turnovers.”

Junior guard Zariah Matthews was the offensive leader for the Lady Cats with 14 points and six rebounds. Terrah Nelson chipped in with nine points, four rebounds and three assists. TaNeisha May provided assistance on the boards with six rebounds and scored six points. Lauren McCaffery added six points and grabbed five rebounds.

The Lady Chiefs had two players to score more thn20 points in the win as Janae Collier led the pace with 28 points. Brittany Thompson pumped in 20 points.

Pelahatchie 78, Bogue Chitto 55 

The boys’ game was very similar to the girls’ contest as Bogue Chitto was looking to knock off the Chiefs to make a three-way tie for first place.

In the first quarter, both teams came out hot offensively and defensively fighting for every possession, but Pelahatchie managed to pull away with a 17-12 lead.

In the second quarter, the Bobcats (4-17, 3-2) fought back to cut Pelahatchie’s lead down to four points with a 18-17 run before heading into halftime trailing 34-30.

In the second half, the Chiefs managed to take command of the third and fourth quarter by outscoring the Bobcats 44-25 to secure the win.

“We played really well starting off the game but just could not keep it going in the second half,” BC coach Mark Pitts said. “Pelahatchie has a good team. This was a tough contest for both teams. Hopefully, we can learn from this and continue to improve as we get ready for our next district game.”

Senior forward Jeremiah Perkins pumped in a game-high double-double of 35 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bobcats. D.J. Nunnery contributed seven points and had six rebounds.

The Chiefs had three players scoring in double figures as Dyllan Taylor, and Keldrick Stokes led the charge with 21 points each. LaChaz Irvin provided 14 points.