WINNSBORO, La. &045; Those guard-heavy Huntington Hounds have the quickness and shooters to compete with plenty of folks.

But going against a true inside presence can present some problems.

The Hounds had to juggle their lineup before putting away Tensas Academy, 63-53, Thursday at Franklin Academy in the District 7-1A tie-breaker game for second place.

The Hounds (14-12, 10-3) will go into next week’s South State tournament as the No. 2 seed from the district. The Chiefs (9-16, 9-4), will get the nod as No. 3.

Pairings for the South State tournament will be announced Sunday morning.

&uot;Those guys present some matchup problems,&uot; Huntington head coach Michael McAnally said. &uot;We had our guards down to come get down in the post. We had a little lapse in the third quarter, and our energy seemed to drop. But in the fourth quarter we really gutted out a win. We know the No. 2 seed is a big accomplishment.&uot;

The Chiefs went inside plenty to post Tyler White in the first half and mounted a threat in the second half off turnovers and trips to the line. But only once did they get the lead inside 10 points, and that came with 1:45 left in the game.

Tensas Academy head coach Britt Keahey declined comment.

The Hounds pounded out a 21-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter before the Chiefs broke out on a 17-5 run to get back in the game. Matthew Bauerle had the hot hand in the fourth quarter with 10 points, including a 3-pointer at the 4:11 that the Hounds answered with a triple from Jordan Owens.

A bucket from Josh Kennedy cut the lead to 57-47, and White put in one of two free throws at the 1:45 mark to cut the lead to 57-48. The Hounds then got buckets from Doug Miller and Owens for a 61-48 lead with 45 seconds left.

&uot;I think more than anything we had kind of a lapse,&uot; McAnally said. &uot;It’s fundamental things you talk about every day in practice and in timeouts. You have mental lapses, and that’s part of the high school game. We’re not immune to that. We knew we had to get it done, and we got it done.&uot;

The Hounds led 16-10 by the end of the first quarter but got rolling on the defensive end in the second quarter after White scored eight points in the first. A three-point play from Owens with 1:22 left in the second capped a 12-0 Huntington run that left the Chiefs scoreless for a good five minutes.

The Hounds got a basket from Josh Olds with 6:00 left in the third for a 38-22 lead, but Tensas got a basket and later two free throws from Randal Borsch to cut the lead to 38-26.

&uot;We got ourselves in foul trouble, but one thing I was really disappointed with was we reached too much tonight,&uot; McAnally said. &uot;We got ourselves in foul trouble, and they hit their free throws to stay in the game. And we struggled from the free throw line.&uot;

Owens led the Hounds with 22, while White led Tensas with 17.

Huntington girls 42, Tensas 31

A one-point lead at halftime wasn’t typical Huntington basketball, and even the nine-point win over the Lady Chiefs in a warm-up game for the South State tournament wasn’t a total game.

But with that one-point lead at the break, the Lady Hounds (22-8) fought through it for the nine-point win.

&uot;I don’t know what’s the reason,&uot; McAnally said. &uot;We’re battling the sickness everybody’s got, but that’s no excuse. We really didn’t come out ready to play. It wasn’t our best effort, but we found a way to win. It was a good for us to win before South State.&uot;

Give some credit to the Lady Chiefs (21-7), who didn’t succumb to Huntington’s press as others teams have done. But they got outscored 13-7 in the third quarter as the Lady Hounds held a 28-21 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

&uot;We had to get in our half-court set and work hard on defense,&uot; McAnally said. &uot;We just seemed to be a step slower tonight. We gave up a ton of offensive rebounds, which is uncharacteristic of us. I thought they were by far the more aggressive team. They made us earn the points we got.&uot;

Emily Hazlip led the Lady Hounds with 20 points, while Tabby Howard led Tensas with eight.