The Villa Rica High School boys basketball team started the season on a positive note with a 74-47 victory over Chapel Hill on Thursday evening in Douglasville.

The Wildcats (1-0) battled through a back-and-forth first half to take a 33-31 lead going into the locker room and really turned it on in the third quarter, outscoring the Panthers, 19-7, to begin to pull away and run out to the 27-point victory.

Josh Lay led VR with 17 points, while Aries Phoenix topped the Panthers offensively with eight points.

Chapel Hill girls 50, Villa Rica 36: The Lady Panthers spoiled the debut of first-year Lady Cat coach James Bailey, as Chapel Hill led 13-9 after the opening period and 33-19 at the half.

Chapel Hill maintained a 14-point advantage going into the final quarter and kept it a double-digit margin to close out the night.

Kaniesha Mixon paced the Lady Panthers with 13 points, while Erica Jones added 12.

Britney Wright led the Lady Cats (0-1) with a 10-point night.

The Douglas County Sentinel contributed to this story.