JACKSON – As good as the Hinds AHS girls basketball team is – two losses by a combined 11 points all season – it’s sobering to think of what the Lady Bulldogs will be like next season.

With four juniors and one sophomore starter, Hinds AHS diismantled West Bolivar 56-33 in the opening round of the Class 2A State Tournament at the Mississippi Coliseum.

The Lady Bulldogs are scheduled to play Coahoma County on Tuesday at 1 p.m. with the winner of that game advancing to the state championship game.

“You have to practice a lot and not come in here being intimidated by the Big House,” said Thomas, a sleek-shooting junior.

The Lady Bulldogs were playing their first game in the Big House since 1997 when head coach Bruce Baker, then an assistant coach, watched his team lose to Bruce.

There was little chance of an upset Wednesday, especially after the Lady Bulldogs’ start. Hinds raced to a 9-0 lead and never looked back.

“There was a little shock,” West Bolivar coach Gregory Wilson said. “We looked up there and we were down 9-0. When you get to this point when all the teams are good, you can’t put yourself in a hole like that.”

West Bolivar converted its first basket with three seconds to play in the first quarter and trailed 19-5.

The poor shooting can sometimes be attributed to the depth perception problems when playing in a big arena. West Bolivar missed 7 of 8 shots in the first quarter alone.

Hinds meanwhile, nailed 8 of 14 shots from the floor in the first quarter, led by Thomas’ six first half points.

The junior led all scorers with 18 points. Junior Mercedes Williams scored 14 points and junior Sondra Moncure scored 13. Williams also snagged 13 rebounds, seven of them offensive.

The two teams played even basketball throughout the second quarter and Hinds went into halftime with a 31-17 lead.

Hinds increased the lead to 19 at the end of the third quarter and held West Bolivar to five points in the fourth. The Lady Eagles missed 13 of 14 shots in the fourth quarter.

Sharita Dotson led the Lady Eagles with nine points.

&#8220We wanted to be more aggressive and press more against West Bolivar,” said Baker, whose team shot poorly in a 29-27 loss to Philadelphia in the South State tournament. &#8220It was good to see us get off to a good start like that because in this environment, sometimes kids can get a little shocked.”