Quitman High School’s Shaterria McKines tries to hold off West Lauderdale High School’s Mallory Thompson as she draws the foul Tuesday night.

QUITMAN — The West Lauderdale High School girls basketball team entered the MHSAA Region 5-4A tournament desperately in need of a win.

The Lady Knights had lost five of their last six and were riding a three-game skid going into Tuesday’s opener against Quitman High School.

Having swept the Lady Panthers during the regular season by a combined score of 118-60, the Lady Knights were again able to limit Quitman offensively and do just enough on Quitman’s side of the court to come away with a 43-29 win.

“We’re glad we could win the game,” Lady Knights head coach Matt Lum said. “This time of the year, it’s not about how we play, it’s about winning and moving on to the next round. That’s the only way we have a chance of meeting our goals.”

After taking a 10-5 lead in the opening period, West Lauderdale added eight points in the second frame off two baskets by Heather Tolon and a field goal apiece from Mallory Thompson and Aliyah Moore. Quitman, meanwhile, could only muster four points in the second as West Lauderdale took an 18-9 advantage into the break.

In the third quarter, most of Quitman’s offenses came via Lonkerria McCoy free throws, as the junior guard was 4 of 6 from the charity stripe. West Lauderdale was able to stay ahead, however, thanks to a field goal and two foul shots by Thompson, a 2-point basket by April Hunt and two field goals by Dashea Hunt — one of which drew a foul, allowing Hunt to sink the free throw for the and-one. A trey by the Lady Panthers’ Dyneshia House with 1:05 remaining in the third made it 29-16 West Lauderdale, but Tolon hit a field goal with 29 seconds in the frame to make it 31-16 going into the final period.

Two more 3-pointers by House in the fourth quarter — with one drawing a foul and leading to a four-point play — was the highlight for Quitman in the fourth, but six points by Amber Anderson and four by Thompson helped West Lauderdale comfortably maintain the lead in the final eight minutes.

The loss dropped Quitman to 4-20 on the season, and Lady Panthers coach Lakia Westerfield didn’t have much to say following the game.

“We lost,” Westerfield said, declining to comment further.

The Lady Panthers were led offensively by McCoy and House, both of whom finished with 11 points. West Lauderdale, meanwhile, had only one double-digit scorer in Thompson, who finished with a game-high 12 points. Anderson tallied nine points, Hunt added seven points and Tolon finished with six.

West Lauderdale will face Newton County High School at 4 p.m. Thursday, and Lum said it was nice to get back in the winning column after his team’s recent struggles.

“The good thing is, we’ve been playing badly for a couple of weeks, so we know the feeling, and we know we have to concentrate on those little things to get us going until we get back to playing well,” Lum said.

West Lauderdale rose to 18-11 on the year.