Loyd Star tipped off the 2001 portion of their basketballschedule Thursday night. Two junior high and two high school wereon tap as the Lincoln County host turned out the lights on theirClaiborne County counterparts.

Lady Hornet Christie May fired in a game-high 21 points as LoydStar blasted the Lady Flashes of St. Aloysius 58-30. The Loyd StarHornets shook off a slow start to hand the St. Aloysius Flashes a55-46 defeat.

Loyd Star claimed junior high girls and boys victories overNatchez Cathedral.

Loyd Star travels to St. Andrews on Jan. 9, for an importantDivision 6-2A test. The JV girls game begins at 5:00 p.m. followedby the varsity girls at 6. The varsity boys game is set to start at7:30.

Loyd Star 58, St. Aloysius 30

The Lady Hornets (9-3) , even though they were at a heightdisadvantage against St. Al, commanded the boards to a 14-9 lead atthe end of the first quarter.

“We rebounded pretty well tonight,” said Lady Hornet head coachLori Britt.

The Lady Flashes (7-7), coached by Paul Hayden, saw his ballclubdown 25-19 at the intermission. St. Al’s Kristen Patrick opened thesecond half with a basket to cut the Lady Flashes’ deficit to 5,26-21.

Loyd Star closed out the third with a 19-6 run, to enter thefinal period leading 45-27. An 11-0 run, by the Lady Hornets toopen the fourth, extended their advantage to 56-27 with 4:01 lefton the clock. At this point, both teams emptied their benches andBritt had realized the 28-point margin of victory.

“I felt that we were mentally focused,” added Britt.

Lending support for Loyd Star were Monica Townsend with 5rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Dana Coke had 6 rebounds, 5assists and 5 steals. Beck Smith pulled down 6 rebounds.

Mollie Richards led St. Al with 10 points.

Loyd Star 55, St. Aloysius 46

St. Aloysius (4-10) dialed long distance in the first 8 minutesto open a 14-9 lead. The Flashes sacked 4 treys and a layup in theperiod. Victor Segers nailed 2 of those 3-point baskets and heldteam-high honors with 10 points.

Loyd Star (7-6) bounced back in the second quarter. The Hornetsgained their first lead of the game, 24-22 on a steal and layup byDemarcus Barnes. Loyd Star took a 32-28 lead into the halftimelocker room.

The Flashes turned to their inside game to open up the secondhalf. An 8-2 run allowed St. Al to reclaim the lead at 36-34, on alayup by Clay Simmons.

Hornet Jared Britt scored 5 points in the final 2 minutes of thequarter, as Loyd Star took a slim 44-41 lead into the finalstanza.

At the 5:16 mark of the fourth and Loyd Star holding a 48-46lead, the Hornets went to a “spread” offense.

“We went to the spread to force them out of their man-to-mandefense,” said Loyd Star head coach Gene “Moochie” Britt.

The Flashes did not score any points to that stretch. Atechnical foul was called on Lee Wiles for slamming the ball on thefloor, in frustration with 38 seconds left in the game.

Barnes sank 2 free throws to close out the scoring for theevening. Barnes led all scorers with 24 points, along with 9rebounds, 5 assists and 8 steals.

Other Hornets providing support were Jamie Johnson with 12points and 9 rebounds. Seth Britt had 7 rebounds and 3 steals.Jared Britt had 4 steals.

In junior high action, Jordan Britt paced Loyd Star with 13points. Brittany Henderson added 9 points for Lady Hornets who are7-2. Cathedral was led by Mattie Smith with 6 points.

Loyd Star (9-0) were led by Brooks Case with 14 points. JuronCollins pumped in 9 points.