FAYETTE &045; Jefferson County boys’ coach Marcus Walton felt like a rookie coach again.

During his first year in Fayette his Bulldogs knocked off neighboring Class 5A Natchez. Six seasons later the Tigers did it for the first time since then as they walloped the Bulldogs 72-48 in front of a standing-room only crowd in Fayette.

But it’s not the win over Natchez that’s important. It’s a big win with next week’s Division 7-3A tournament on the horizon.

&uot;We knew if we came out and played hard for 32 minutes like we’ve been stressing night in and night out we could compete with anybody,&uot; said Walton, whose Tigers will likely go into the tournament as a No. 5 seed. &uot;Coach (Mike) Martin is a great motivator. We found that out at the beginning of the season. We took pride in it tonight.

&uot;I’m hoping we have just begun. That’s our motto for the rest of the season.&uot;

The Tigers stayed tough on defense and capitalized on the Bulldogs’ mistakes late in the game. Jefferson County held a 15-point cushion for most of the game but really put it away in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers (12-11) opened the fourth quarter on an 18-4 run to put the score at 72-41 with 2:44 left. The highlight definitely was a dunk in traffic from Dewones Smith, who led all scorers with 26 points.

Jefferson County jumped out to a 16-6 lead by the end of the first quarter with 14 of those courtesy of Smith and post man Juan Wyatt.

Derrick Martin led the Bulldogs with nine points.

Rayville boys 75, Ferriday 71

FERRIDAY, La. &045; LaKendrick Nix and Antwan James put on a show for the fans with each going for 30 points or more, but it was Rayville who went home with the win.

Nix led all scorers for Ferriday (10-15, 1-5 district 3-2A) with 32 points, while James had 30 for Rayville (6-19, 4-2 3-2A).

After falling behind 23-18 at the end of one, the Trojans fought back hard for two periods to tie the game up heading into the fourth, 60-all.

But Rayville outscored the Trojans 15-11 for the victory.

Davidson boys 109, Block 58

St. Joseph, La. &045; Despite Jeremy Washington’s 28 points, the Bears (5-18, 2-5 district 4-1A) continued their district struggles Tuesday.

Davidson (13-8, 5-2 4-1A) had six players score 10 points or more, led by R. Dunmore’s 18.

The Warriors only held a nine-point lead, 19-10, after one period, but took control of the game in the second by outscoring Block 30-16 in the second.

Davidson broke the century mark in the fourth with a 35-18 advantage.

Tensas boys 59, Pine Hills 21

ST. JOSEPH, La. &045; In a must-win situation for Tensas Academy’s boys basketball team, Bryant Killen had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds as the Chiefs had no problem in defeating the Pine Hills Wildcats 59-21 Tuesday night.

The win by Tensas (9-15, 9-3), along with Huntington’s win over WCCA means both Tensas and Huntington finished 9-3 in district play and will play each other at 6 p.m. Thursday at Franklin Academy.

The winner of that game will be the second seed at South State next week behind Trinity Episcopal and the loser will be the third seed.

Tyler White had 12 points and Matthew Bauerle added 10 points for the Chiefs.

Trinity boys 80, Ben’s Ford 15

NATCHEZ &045; For the second time in three seasons, the Saints went undefeated in district play, this season going 12-0 in District 7-1A by beating the team that kept them from doing that last season.

Dudley Guice Jr. led the Saints with 21 points. Mike Lickliter had 14 points. Ryan Rachal and Chase Brown had 10 points each.

This game was over from the start as Trinity (26-5, 12-0) jumped out to a 29-1 lead after one quarter of play and then extended its lead to 49-3 at halftime.

Harrisonburg boys 72, Monterey 37

MONTEREY, La. &045; The Bulldogs and the Wolves were tied a 9 going into the second quarter. That would be the closest the game would be the rest of the way as Harrisonburg pulled away with a dominating second and third quarter.

Danny Boothe led Harrisonburg (2-5 in District 3-B) with 21 points. R. McIntyre added 14 points.

Roy Smith led Monterey with 19 points, but was the only Wolves player to score in double figures.

CA girls 73, Columbia 55

COLUMBIA &045; The Lady Tigers fought through intangibles and a pesky Columbia team to advance to the second round of the MPSA district 4-AA tournament Tuesday.

On the heels of Jenny Watts’ 34 points and 11 assists, Centreville looks ahead to Friday’s showdown with Presbyterian Christian at 6:15 p.m.

&uot;Jenny’s athleticism and her ability to create makes others around her better,&uot; Lady Tigers head coach John Brashier said. &uot;She would’ve had 20 (assists), but we were 6-of-19 on our layups in the first half.

&uot;I told the girls I was very proud of them for fighting through some distractions during the game, plus having to play Columbia in its own gym.&uot;

Block boys 93, Davidson 28

St. Joseph, La. &045; The Lady Bears (14-6, 5-1 district 4-1A) continue to stroll through district play with an easy victory Tuesday.

Dani McMillian continues to light the big board up with 32 &045; her third-straight 30-plus points game.

&uot;She could’ve scored more, but Dani is gracious and loves to pass the ball off,&uot; Block head coach Veronica Savage said.

Jessica Wisner led Davidson (5-15, 2-5 district 4-1A) with 8 points, as the Lady Bears jumped out to a 55-16 halftime lead.

Trinity girls 59, Ben’s Ford 38

NATCHEZ &045; The stakes were high for the Trinity Episcopal Lady Saints going into their MPSA&160;District 7-1A regular-season finale against the Ben’s Ford Lady Eagles Tuesday night at Clyde Adams Arena.

The Lady Saints had already clinched a berth at next week’s Class 1A South State Tournament, but a win coupled with a loss by WCCA to Huntington would mean a tie for third place with the Lady Rams at 6-6.

Ashley McCalip chipped in with 14 points for the Lady Saints.

&uot;The girls knew the situation,&uot; Lady Saints head coach Melanie Hall said. &uot;Tonight I feel like we played our best game of the season as a team. We were very intense on defense.&uot;

Ferriday girls 73, Rayville 50

FERRIDAY, La. &045; The Lady Trojans didn’t look anything like the third-ranked team in Class 2A in the first half of their District 3-2A contest with the Lady Hornets Tuesday night.

The second half, however, belonged to Ferriday as the Lady Trojans (27-0, 6-0) were en route to the 23-point win at the Ferriday High gym.

LaShawnda Pryor led Ferriday with 24 points. Latasha Cain had 16 points. Monique Jones finished with 12 points. Rashonda Leonard added 10 points.

&uot;We came out too relaxed,&uot; Lady Trojans head coach Lisa Abron said. &uot;We were very sloppy. We had 15 turnovers alone in the first half. We don’t need to play like that. Things ought to be almost perfect.&uot;

Tensas girls 58, Pine Hills 20

ST. JOSEPH, La. &045; Megan Bauerle led three Lady Chiefs players in double figures with a game-high 15 points en route to an easy 38-point win over the Lady Wildcats in MPSA District 7-1A action Tuesday night.

Tabi Howard had 12 points and Amanda Doyle added 11 points. Brittany Ratcliffe had 11 rebounds to go with eight points for the Lady Chiefs (21-6, 10-2), who will represent District 7 as the second seed at South State next week.

Kristi Whittington led Pine Hills with nine points.

Harrisonburg girls 54, Monterey 38

MONTEREY, La. &045; The Lady Wolves had no answer for Harrisonburg’s Dana Roark, who poured in 31 points as the Lady Bulldogs improved to 6-1 in District 3-B with the win.

Harrisonburg appeared to be in control of the game after holding Monterey (14-11, 1-6) to just four points in the first quarter, but led by just seven, 27-20, at the half.

The Lady Bulldogs put the game out of reach by outscoring Monterey 18-5 in the third.

Brittany Woodruff led Monterey with 13 points.