West Lauderdale’s Railey Mayatt sends a pass across the field against Raymond Tuesday at Meridian Community College.

The West Lauderdale girls soccer team didn’t waste any time when the playoffs started Tuesday evening.

Thanks in part to two goals each by Bailee Fairley, Alice Williamson and Emma Ramsey, the Lady Knights blanked Raymond 11-0 in the opening round of the MHSAA Class 4A postseason. West Lauderdale led 8-0 at the half, and the game was called 10 minutes into the second half due to the seven-goal mercy rule.

“We played really well,” West Lauderdale coach Alex George said. “I thought the girls played up to speed right at kickoff. We didn’t waste a lot of time in the first few minutes — we found the back of the net, and they seemed to really be in that playoff mode.”

Ramsey scored the first goal in the sixth minute off an assist from Railey Mayatt, and Fairley made it 2-0 in the ninth minute following an assist by Williamson. In the 14th minute, Williamson scored her first goal off an assist from Anna Claire Nance and, two minutes later, Fairley tallied her second goal, with Williamson getting the assist.

Williamson scored again off an assist from Kathryn Knuth in the 20th minute, and Ramsey scored two minutes later off an assist from Nance to make it 6-0 West Lauderdale. Lilly Vincent had a goal in the 32nd minute off an assist from Aslan Shirley, and Anslee Mason made it 8-0 Lady Knights in the 35th minute, with Gracie Bunyard getting the assist.

In the second half, Alexa Shirley, Bunyard and Anna Vincent each scored goals, with Lilly Vincent tallying the assists for Shirley and Bunyard’s goals and Carsyn Mott getting the assist for Anna Vincent’s goal.

George said it was important to get off to a fast start to set the tone not just against Raymond, but for the rest of the playoffs as well.

“You have to stay at the same level and pace of play every week, because now it’s win-or-go-home, so the importance of playing collectively as a team and coming out and taking care of business is really huge right now,” George said. “It felt really nice to see the girls knocking the ball around and the variety of girls scoring goals.”

West Lauderdale (20-1-3) will play Saturday at Mooreville for the second round of the playoffs. 

WEST LAUDERDALE 5, KOSCIUSKO BOYS 1

Josh Eakes scored two goals for the Knights as they defeated Kosciusko on the road in the opening round of the MHSAA Class 4A playoffs Tuesday.

Daniel Galvan, Sammie Balderas and Braden Luke each had one goal for the Knights.

West Lauderdale (12-14-2) will host Ripley Saturday for the second round of the postseason. 

NEWTON COUNTY 7, RAYMOND BOYS 0

Graham Lewis had two goals and one assist for the Cougars as they shut out Raymond 7-0 in the first round of the MHSAA Class 4A postseason.

Will Rushing, Tanner Dailey, Davi Roldan, Christian Velazquez and Lee Hill each had one goal for Newton County. Hill also had two assists, and Malachi Estes and Samuel Velazquez each had an assist as well for Newton County.

The Cougars (21-1) will play Saturday at New Albany in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs. 

NESHOBA CENTRAL 7, VICKSBURG GIRLS 0

The Lady Rockets got off to a fast start in the first round of the MHSAA Class 5A playoffs as they mercy ruled Vicksburg Tuesday on the road.

Rose Coats and Ella Elliot both tallied two goals apiece, as did Makaylin Alex. Abbi Cumberland had Neshoba Central’s seventh goal, and Hailey Hardy had the team’s only assist.

Keeper Josie Skinner had five saves.

Neshoba Central (13-6) will host Saltillo in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs Saturday.

MCLAURIN GIRLS 2, SOUTHEAST LAUDERDALE 1

Chloe Kinney scored the Lady Tigers’ lone goal as they lost at McLaurin Tuesday in the first round of the MHSAA Classes 1-3A playoffs.

Southeast Lauderdale ended the season with a 9-12 record. 

NEWTON COUNTY 2, KOSCIUSKO GIRLS 0

Newton County (14-7) will play at Caledonia Saturday in the second round of the MHSAA Class 4A playoffs.