The Salem Wildcats and Lady Cats were victorious Friday night as they defeated the Bogue Chitto Bobcats and Lady Cats in a non-divisional contest in their last historic meeting in Salem’s old gymnasium.

In the girls’ game, the Lady Wildcats managed to finally end a long winless drought against Bogue Chitto with a 66-58 victory over the Lady Cats.

In boys action, the Wildcats overpowered the Bobcats to claim a 76-54 win.

Bogue Chitto returns home to host the Piney Woods Tornadoes Tuesday for a huge 7-1A district test. The varsity girls will tip off at 6 p.m., followed by the boys.

Salem will be on the road Tuesday as they prepare to visit the Stringer Red Devils in a Region 8-1A contest.

At Salem High School, a new gym is being built for the Wildcats and Lady Wildcats with very high anticipation of having it ready for next year basketball season.

Salem 66, Bogue Chitto 58 

The Lady Cats and Lady Wildcats provided a tough defensive contest for their basketball fans as both fought hard from start to finish.

In the opening quarter, BC (14-5, 2-2) came out and set the tone of the game as they captured a 20-15 lead.

In the second quarter, Salem charged back to tie the game 26-all at halftime.

In the second half, the Lady Wildcats (14-4, 4-0) managed to take control of the contest by outscoring BC 40-32 to end a very long 30-year winless drought against the Lady Cats, which was stated by BC historian and principle Mickey Myers.

Sophomore forward Karlie Williams was the offensive leader for the Lady Cats of Bogue Chitto with 20 points. Zariah Matthews and Lauren McCaffrey provided assistance with 11 points apiece. McCaffrey paced BC on the boards with 6 rebounds. Matthews helped with 5 rebounds and had 7 assists.

“The girls played hard,” said BC coach Christi Terrell. “Salem has a good team. There were times that we struggled offensively as our shots would not fall for us. Now we must regroup and get ready for our district game Tuesday.”

Ariel Fortenberry pumped in a game-high 23 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to lead the Lady Wildcats. Markeria Butler chipped in with 13 points. Jasmine May added 12 points and had 8 rebounds. Zoie Bridges netted 10 points.

“This was a big win for us,” said Salem coach Brian Smith. “Bogue Chitto is a very tough team and it was great for our girls to finally end this long winless streak against them.”

Salem 76, Bogue Chitto 54 

The Wildcats and Bobcats (3-16, 1-3) provided an offensive slugfest in the opening quarter as Salem managed to gain the upper hand to a 19-15 lead.

In the second and third quarter, the Wildcats (11-5. 4-0) steam rolled Bogue Chitto to take a 65-40 lead before going into the final frame.

Senior Dennis Rogers directed the Bobcats offense with 14 points and 8 rebounds. Jeremy Blackwell contributed 11 points and had 7 rebounds. Jeremiah Perkins and Henry Thomas had 10 points apiece.

The Wildcats had three players to score in double figures. Austin Fazande led the charge with 21 points. Donavan Harness provided 17 points and Shannon Damond had 16 points.

In junior varsity boys action, Salem blasted Bogue Chitto 34-21 as Bobby Gardner paced the Wildcats with 15 points. Brandon Blackwell was the top scorer for the Bobcats with 9 points.