UTICA – Hinds AHS picked up some added offensive options Tuesday night that could come in handy when they start the Class 2A South State tournament Thursday at Kemper County.

The War Dawgs punched their ticket to Dekalb by blasting Bassfield 68-43 in a South State satellite game at the Bulldog Coliseum on the Hinds Community College Utica campus.

Hinds AHS (27-4) will meet Scott Central (23-10) on Thursday. Bassfield finished 17-12.

War Dawgs coach Keith Williams said satellite games are often difficult because of the limited scouting information. His team, though, had little trouble with the turnover plagued Yellow Jackets.

&#8220The only information we could get on them came over the phone. We had to feel them out in the first half. We saw where they like to shoot,” Williams said.

&#8220We made some minor adjustments at the half and basically committed to playing our game. It was good to see somebody else step up like Jarnovian Washington, because everyone knows that Joe White is our bread-and-butter.”

White, the 6-foot-4 power forward, was his usual consistent self, scoring 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds.

But it was Washington, the War Dawgs’ shooting guard, that gave the team a lift in both the first and third quarters. He finished with 22 points, with three 3-pointers and a 7-of-9 effort from the line.

&#8220This was one of the best games he’s had all year,” Williams said of Washington.

(G) Hinds AHS 59, Bassfield 34.

The Lady War Dawgs’ trapping defense worked a whole lot better than Bassfield’s, and the result was an easy win.

Hinds (30-1) advances to the South State Tournament at Perry Central Thursday night where they will face Williams-Sullivan, which beat Bay Springs on Monday.

&#8220Our transition defense helped create easy shots for us,” Baker said. &#8220We worked hard on defense.”

Hinds built a 36-16 halftime lead but the big cushion got to the Lady War Dawgs’ heads.

Hinds got 12 points each from Tanesha Clark and Iyuanna Brown.

Lynetter Webster had 10. Bassfield (17-12) was led by Willetta Thompson’s 13 points.