WESSON — Junior guard Brandt Hood pumped in a game-high 29points Tuesday night to lead the Wesson Cobras in a big 61-48 winover the St. Andrew’s Saints in Division 6-2A basketball action.Hood nailed 7 treys to tie the school record which is held byformer player Adrian Merchant. He also was 8 of 12 from the freethrow line.

In the girls game, the Lady Cobras battled back from a 39-32deficit going into the fourth quarter and pulled out a 49-41victory over the Lady Saints.

Wesson travels to Utica Friday to face Hinds AHS in toughdivision action. The junior varsity boys kick off action at 5 p.m.followed by two varsity games.

Wesson 61, St. Andrew’s 48

We needed to win tonight,” said Wesson boys coach Ron Kesslerfollowing the game. The Cobras were coming off a 59-44 divisionloss to rival Loyd Star last Friday.

“We came out running in the second half,” said Kessler. “We haveto beat teams running up and down the floor.”

The Cobras (8-10, 3-2) and the Saints (6-12, 1-3) played closethe first half with Wesson up 17-16 in the first quarter and St.Andrew’s leading 31-30 at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Cobras went on a 13-6 run for a 43-39lead going into the final frame. Wesson outscored St. Andrew’s18-11 to secure the division win.

Fourth quarter action saw the Cobras go 12 of 21 from the freethrow line. The Saints began fouling when Wesson began running timeoff the clock.

In the final five minutes from the charity line, Hood was 5-for-6, Mason Warren 4-for-6, Phil Fortenberry 3-for-4, ChancePeets 2-for-4 and reserve Joe Decker 2-for-2.

Adding support to the Wesson win with 14 points, 6 rebounds and4 assists was Warren. Fortenberry was tops off the backboards with7 rebounds. Peets made 4 steals and had 3 assists.

Powering St. Andrew’s, under the direction of first-year headcoach Michael Coggins, was Bradford Blackman with 19 points.

“I was proud of my guys effort,” added Kessler. “We played as ateam tonight.”

Wesson 49, St. Andrew’s 41

“We got some confidence tonight,” said Wesson girls coach JemmyeAnn Helms. “We were patient. We outrebounded them. We made gooddecisions with the basketball. The girls played hard.”

The game was close for three quarters. Wesson outscored St.Andrew’s 17-2 in the final frame to pull out the win. Back-to-back3-point shots from junior guard Alexis Crosby and sophomore guardPerry K. Furr cut the deficit to 1-point, 41-40, with 3:10 left toplay. The hosts went on an 8-0 run to preserve the win.

Crosby led the Lady Cobras (8-9, 3-2) with 16 points and 6rebounds, Crosby scored 4 treys in the second half.

Furr followed with 14 points, scoring 3 treys, and making 4assists. Collecting 5 rebounds apiece were Sam Ellison, LalitaPayre, Bethany Dykes and Christy Watson.

For coach Burney King’s Lady Saints, Olivia Wells was the onlyplayer in double figures with 11 points.

St. Andrew’s fell to 11-7 overall and 2-2 in division play.

Junior varsity girls

The Wesson girls fell to St. Andrew’s 21-15. The Lady Saints got9 points from Rachel Saunders.

Leading Wesson with 5 points was Devon Brown.