DAILY LEADER / MARTY ALBRIGHT / Loyd Star’s Edrick Alsworth (1) looks for some help as West Lincoln Javion Mackabee (35), Ronnie Edwards (10) and Le’Darrius Jones (5) applies defensive pressure Thursday night at Bogue Chitto.

BOGUE CHITTO – The West Lincoln Lady Bears and the Loyd Star Hornets were victorious in the opening round of the Lincoln County Round-Robin tournament Thursday night at the Bobcat Palace.

In the girls contest, the Lady Bears rallied back to nip the Lady Hornets 26-25 by a huge three-pointer by West Lincoln’s Alli Mullins with three seconds left before the buzzer sounded.

In the boys games, the Hornets knocked off the defending Lincoln County champs, the West Lincoln Bears, to claim a 69-53 win.

Tournament action continues today. Loyd Star battles Enterprise at 4 and 5:30 p.m., followed by West Lincoln taking on Bogue Chitto in the night cap, starting at 7 and 8::30 p.m.

West Lincoln 26, Loyd Star 25 

The Lady Bears and the Lady Hornets battled in a slow pace and low scoring contest. After one quarter of action, Loyd Star held a 3-2 lead.

DAILY LEADER / MARTY ALBRIGHT / Loyd Star’s Jordan Shelby (22) is stop by West Lincoln’s Hanna Moak (35) in Thursday night action at Bogue Chitto.

In the second quarter, the Lady Bears fought back with a 9-4 run to secure a 11-7 lead at halftime.

In the second half of action, the defensive battle continued as both teams fought hard, as the Lady Hornets won the scoring battle in the third quarter with a 11-10 run, but West Lincoln managed to hold on to a 21-18 lead.

In the final quarter of action, West Lincoln and Loyd Star’s fans continued to witness a thrilling low-scoring battle as the Lady Hornets put together a 7-2 run to claim a 25-23 lead in the final seconds.

The Lady Bears relied on their strong defensive effort to force Loyd Star to turnover the ball with just second remaining. After two quick timeouts, West Lincoln began play on their side of the court. The Lady Bears in bounded the ball and found an wide open Alli Mullins beyond the three-point arc and nailed the game winning trey.

“We wanted to slow the game down against Loyd Star so that we can have a chance win the contest,” said West Lincoln coach Lane Young. “We were very fortunate to keep the game close as Loyd Star was starting to gain some momentum in the final quarter. Overall, I was pleased with my girls efforts and Mullins did a great job stepping up to hit the game winning shot.”

Hanna Moak was the offensive leader for the Lady Bears (2-6) with 12 points and four rebounds. Carly Holden contributed six points. Mullins finished with five points and also helped on the boards with four rebounds.

Marcey Givens was the top scorer for the Lady Hornets (5-2) with seven points/ Victoria Cupit contributed six points. Jordan Shelby had five points. Mackenzie Smith powered Loyd Star on the boards with six rebounds.

“This was a slow motion game,” said Loyd Star coach Gene “Moochie” Britt. “West Lincoln did a good job slowing the game down. Our girls struggle to get thing going offensively in the slow motion contest. Overall, we had a bad night offensively and defensively with a crucial turnovers and missed shot in the final seconds that could help us win the game.”

Loyd Star 69, West Lincoln 53 

Basketball fans filled up the gym to witness a high scoring affair between to high-scoring team as both Loyd Star and West Lincoln came out scoring in the opening quarter. After the smoke cleared in the first quarter, the Hornets lead 22-21.

In the second quarter, Loyd Star continued to light up the scoreboard as they put together s 19-13 run to increase their lead to 41-34 at halftime.

In the second half, the Hornets (6-1) came out swinging in the third quarter and quickly put the game on ice with a 16-8 run to have a 57-42 advantage before heading into the final frame.

In the fourth quarter, West Lincoln (2-6) made a big push to try to get back into the contest, but Loyd Star managed to keep their lead in a distance with a 12-11 run to secure the win.

“The boys played really well offensively and defensively,” said Britt. “We shot the ball really well in the first half. Edrick Alsworth and Caleb Yarborough played a great game for us. Overall, I was pleased with the guys efforts, but we still need to improve on rebounding, we gave West Lincoln too many second chance opportunities.”

Edrick Alsworth powered the Hornets with a game-high 24 points and eight rebounds to lead four players in double figures. Brad Jasper chipped in with 14 points. Caleb Yarborough contributed 12 points and Levi Redd had 10 points.

Ronnie Edwards paced the Bears with a team-high 22 points. Keshaun London provided 10 points. Javian Mackabee lead on the boards with nine rebounds and score six points. Lofton Sill helped with eight rebounds and netted five points.

“We played and shot the ball well in the first half,” said Young. “In the second half, we came out flat and could not recover in time before Loyd Star put the game out of reach. Loyd Star has a very good team.”