WESSON – Co-Lin’s basketball fans provided a great motivational boost to help the Lady Wolves rally back in the last five minutes of the game to defeat the Jones County Lady Bobcats 76-68 in MACJC semifinal action Wednesday night at Mullin Gymnasium.

“This was a heck-of-a win,” said Co-Lin women coach Gwyn Young. “We had a great crowd here and they were our sixth man tonight in helping our girls fight back to get the win.”

With the win, the Lady Wolves (25-0) remains undefeated on the season. Co-Lin has their eyes set on the gold ball as they take on the Meridian Lady Eagles in the women’s MACJC state champion game tonight, starting at 6 p.m.

In the other MACJC semifinal action, the Meridian Lady Eagles rallied back to edge the East Central Lady Wolves 79-77 in the early women’s contest. In men action, the Holmes Bulldogs knocked off the Northeast Tigers 69-59 and the Pearl River Wildcats defeated Gulf Coast 69-54.

In the mens’ championship contest, Holmes face off against Pearl River tonight at 8 p.m.

Co-Lin 76, Jones County 68 

In front of a pack house, the Lady Wolves and the Lady Bobcats came out and provided a exciting ball game from start to finish.

In the first half, the Lady Wolves started off the contest strong and took a commanding 16-point lead with 6:51 remaining, before the Lady Bobcats charge back with a big run to cut into Co-Lin’s lead as they trailed the halftime 39-30.

In the second half, Jones County continued their hot shooting streak as they outscored the Lady Wolves in the first 12-minutes of action to capture the lead at 62-60 with 7:46 remaining. Jones continued to add to their lead 68-60 before strangely calling a timeout that killed their momentum with 4:57 remaining.

After the timeout, Co-Lin answered Jones challenge as the Lady Wolves turned up the heat on defense and held the Lady Bobcats scoreless throughout the rest of the game. Offensively, the Lady Wolves responded with a big 16-0 explosion.

Kelley Allen helped the Lady Wolves tied the game at 68-all with two-minutes left in the contest with two big shots in the paint. At the 1:36 mark, Tyra Gibson put the Lady Wolves ahead 70-68 after hitting two huge free throws. With 1:04 remaining, Gibson stepped into Jones’ passing lane to steal the pass and race down the court for the layup but was fouled on the attempt. Gibson nailed one of two free throws to give CL a 71-68 lead.

Jones County worked the ball down the court, hoping to break through Co-Lin’s defensive pressure, but missed on a three-point attempt as Gibson came down with the rebound. The Lady Wolves managed to add to their lead on a Allen’s layup with 26 second left and she was foul on attempt increasing Co-Lin’s lead to 74-68. The Lady Wolves would score again in the closing seconds on two free throws to secure the victory at 76-68.

“The girls did a amazing job fighting back to earn this win,” added Young.

Kelley Allen powered the Lady Wolves with a double-double performance of 22 points and 13 rebounds. Alexis Collins also lead the Lady Wolves in scoring with 22 points. Toni Woods contributed 10 points and had six rebounds. Tyra Gibson netted nine points, six steals and six assists.

The Lady Bobcats had four players to score in double figures as Taylor Baudoin led with a double-double performance of 23 points and 11 rebounds. Kadie Parker contributed 18 points. Starla Daggans chipped in with 13 points and Alyson Johnson added 12 points.