COLLINSVILLE — “We are family; I’ve got all my sisters with me” goes the lyrics to a 1979 Sister Sledge tune titled We are Family. You will have to forgive West Lauderdale Lady Knights head coach Matt Lum if you catch him humming the old ditty as his squad becomes more like sisters than teammates after each game. 

When the final horn sounded after Monday night’s contest with the Lady Knights coming out on top of the Noxubee County High School Lady Tigers 54-49, Lum knew the victory was due to an unselfish attitude and a desire to win as a team over the fast, athletic Lady Tigers squad. 

“Our kids want to be more than teammates; they want to be family. They are there for one another and tonight proved it again with some people stepping up in a big way and for the most part, everyone that stepped on the court contributed in an important way,” Lum said. 

West controlled the boards and played tight defense to help offset the athleticism of Noxubee and keep the Lady Tigers from turning the game into a track meet. 

“The kids continue to work and move, and took good shots that gave them good rebound opportunities. And defensively, Noxubee had 18 free throw opportunities in the first half. And after the break, where we told them to maintain their positions which would reduce opportunities to foul, Noxubee only had six free throw attempts in the second half,” Lum said. 

West, playing without injured senior forward Mallory Thompson, led by as much as 12 points during the game, but the Lady Tigers kept applying pressure with 3-point shots or fast break points to stay within striking distance. But the Lady Knights, led by Maggie Wooldridge’s floor presence and ball handling, and by the defensive play of Amber Anderson and Dashea Hunt, kept Noxubee at bay to take the hard fought victory. 

Neither team could get much traction in the first quarter with West leading 8-4 at the end of the frame, but in the second period both offenses came alive with each team hitting on long three pointers, stealing the ball and running the floor for layups and using excellent passes to set up easy baskets to make it a 25-19 WestLauderdale at the halftime break. 

West Lauderdale jumped out to an 11-point, 30-19 lead on a Wooldridge drive and layup early in the third period, but by the end of the quarter, Noxubee had cut it to 40-35 and wasn’t going to go down easy. 

The family aspect of the Lady Knights was on display in the fourth quarter, as West turned up the defense and used crisp passes to make smart attempts on the basket and didn’t foul to hold on for the 54-49 win. 

Hunt paced West Lauderdale with 18 points, followed by Wooldridge with 16 and Anderson with 10. 

West upped its record to 8-2 and will try to add to that Thursday night at Kemper County. 

The West Lauderdale boys fell to Noxubee 66-60 in triple overtime in the nightcap.