NATCHEZ &045; As to which girls’ basketball team is the best one in Division 7-1A, some, including Cathedral head coach Peter Arnold, would say West Lincoln, while others would say Bogue Chitto.

Well, perhaps the Lady Bears of West Lincoln proved they are the best in the division as Dana King scored a game-high 28 points, including seven 3-pointers, and three of her teammates scored in double figures in a 78-15

win over the Lady Green Wave Tuesday night.

&uot;I told you they could shoot, didn’t I,&uot; Arnold said. &uot;They’re a sound, fundamental team. They take care of the ball. They shoot the ball well. I really think they’re better than Bogue Chitto.&uot;

With the win, West Lincoln (15-5, 8-1) will be the top seed while Bogue Chitto will be the second seed in next week’s division tournament at St. Aloysius. Cathedral (1-17, 0-9) will be the sixth seed.

The Lady Bears dominated the first quarter defensively, forcing six Cathedral turnovers and allowing very few shots to take an 11-0 lead at the end of the quarter.

&uot;Cathedral’s young,&uot; West Lincoln head coach Lane Young said. &uot;We played good defense on them. We made a lot of shots from outside. We shot the ball well.&uot;

As a team, West Lincoln was 12-of-29 from 3-point range, including King’s seven 3s.

&uot;She (King) had 39 the last game we played and hit 11 3s,&uot; Young said. &uot;She’s shooting the ball extremely well.&uot;

The Lady Green Wave finally got their first points of the game at the 7:04 mark of the second quarter on a short jumper by Mattie Smith, who led the home team with five points.

&uot;As we usually do, we play hard,&uot; Arnold said. &uot;We just didn’t take care of the ball.When you don’t take of the ball, they quickly convert it into points.&uot;

West Lincoln ended up outscoring Cathedral 34-7 in the second quarter to jump out to a 45-7 halftime lead. In the first half, King had 14 points, including four 3s.

Lauren Smith finished with 13 points, including three 3s, three rebounds and three steals. Chastity Avants came off the bench and had 12 points, including a pair of 3s, and three steals. Alicia Kennedy, also a reserve, had 12 points and seven boards.

In the boys game, Tyler Smith had a game-high 26 points and Brooks Smith and Luke Lofton had 18 points each as the Bears defeated the Green Wave 69-42.

Brooks Smith scored all of his points on six 3-pointers. He also had six rebounds and one steal.

&uot;We didn’t play very good,&uot; said Cathedral’s Russell Barmer, who led the Green Wave with 14 points. &uot;They’re a good shooting team.&uot;

West Lincoln (12-8, 8-1) jumped out to an early 10-0 lead before Cathedral (3-15, 1-8) rallied to cut the lead to 20-16 early in the second quarter until Smith hit a pair of big baskets as the Bears took a 33-19 halftime lead.

&uot;I thought especially in the first half Cathedral was playing well,&uot; Young said. &uot;We had a chance to push the lead ahead and we couldn’t do it.&uot;

Not until a change in defense to a full-court press at the beginning of the second half did West Lincoln put the game out of reach, leading at one time late in the fourth quarter by 38 points.