MINDEN, La. &045; Heather Harber scored 16 points and Hope Christian had 15 points as the Deer Creek School Lady Warriors defeated the WCCA Lady Rams with a 51-41 in the first round of the MPSA Class 1A South State Tournament Tuesday night.

Caroline Kee led WCCA with 14 points, but was the only Lady Ram to score in double figures.

Deer Creek, the No. 2 seed from District 5, will play Glenbrook School, the host school of the tournament and No. 2 seed from District 6, at 7 p.m. Thursday. WCCA, the No. 4 seed from District 7, finished its season at 8-16.

&uot;They were undefeated in district play and came up one game short in their district tournament,&uot; Lady Rams head coach Sam Byrd said about the Lady Warriors. &uot;They’re having a great season so far.&uot;

Byrd said the big difference in the game was foul trouble on his team and Deer Creek going to the free-throw line quite often in the first half.

&uot;We had about 20 fouls in the first half and they only had about eight or nine in the first half,&uot; Byrd said. &uot;They shot 25 free throws and made 12. We only shot five and made two.&uot;

Deer Creek held a slim 10-8 lead going into the second quarter, but the Lady Rams’ foul difficulties caught up with them as they trailed 26-18 at halftime.

The Lady Warriors then outscored the Lady Rams 13-8 in the third quarter to extend their lead to 13 points, 39-26, going in the fourth quarter.

WCCA outscored Deer Creek 15-12 in the fourth quarter, but it would not be enough to keep the season going for the Lady Rams.

&uot;We game was close all the way,&uot; Byrd said. &uot;Our girls did a tremendous job. They played real hard. Our seniors will be missed.&uot;

Newellton girls 71, Block 69

JONESVILLE, La. &045; Amanda Gales and Crystal Dorsey combined for 60 of Newellton’s 71 points as the visiting Lady Bears, the 10th-ranked team in Class 1A, remained undefeated in District 4-1A with the 2-point win Tuesday night.

Gales finished with a game-high 36 points and Dorsey had 24 points for Newellton (23-7, 9-0).

Dani McMillin led Block (15-7, 7-2) with 25 points. Shanira Wilkerson had 19 points and Catessa Branch added 14 points.

The home-team Lady Bears took a 19-16 lead after one quarter of play, only to have Newellton outscore them, oddly enough, 19-16 in the second quarter to tie the score at 35 at halftime.

Newellton outscored Block 17-16 in the third quarter and 19-18 in the fourth quarter to escape with the close win on the road.

Centreville girls 61,

East Rankin Academy 34

RAYMOND &045; Four Centreville players scored in double figures and the Lady Tigers held East Rankin’s top two scorers in check en route to a stunning 27-point upset win in the opening round of the MPSA Class 2A South State Tournament Tuesday night at Central Hinds Academy.

Centreville, the No. 3 seed from District 4, was led by Emily Knighton and Jenae Jackson with 16 points, Jenny Watts with 14 points, and Anna Goudeau with 10 points.

Centreville will next play arch-rival and District 4 champion Brookhaven Academy at 2:30 p.m. Friday. East Rankin, the No. 2 seed from District 3, finished with a 21-12 record.

&uot;Our girls played really well,&uot; Lady Tigers head coach John Brashier said. &uot;Jenae had a good game. Emily came out from the get-go and hit two 3s early. She with her shooting opened it up with Jenae. Good dribble penetration from Jenny Watts.&uot;

On the defensive end, Centreville held Ashley Massey to just 10 points and Amy Cole to seven points as the Lady Tigers jumped out to a 34-10 halftime lead over the Lady Patriots and never looked back from there.

&uot;Kelly Simpson, one of our starters, got in foul trouble and Whitney Tallarico went in for her,&uot; Brashier said. &uot;She didn’t score many points, but she played good defense. One we took their 3-point shooters out of their game, I was confident.&uot;

Sharkey-Issaquena girls 25, Trinity 22

MINDEN, La. &045; For the Lady Confederates of Sharkey-Issaquena, they’ll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any time. And that’s exactly what happened Tuesday night in the opening round of the MPSA Class 1A South State Tournament.

Sharkey-Issaquena, the No. 4 seed from District 5, will now have the unenviable task of playing District 6 champion Riverdale Academy, winner of four of the last five girls 1A South State crowns, at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Trinity Episcopal, the No. 3 seed from District 5, finished at 9-19.

SIA and Trinity were tied at 7-all at the end of the first quarter and the Lady Saints took a 13-12 halftime lead.

However, Trinity’s Sierra Massey, who led the team with nine points, injured her ankle early in the third quarter and the Lady Confederates took advantage, outscoring the Lady Saints 6-2 to take a 18-15 lead.

MSD girls 58, Cathedral 38

VICKSBURG &045; Mississippi School for the Deaf’s press wasn’t a Bogue Chitto or West Lincoln press, but it just as tough.

And the results were just as troubling for the Lady Green Wave. MSD&160;led 15-7 by the end of the first quarter before outscoring Cathedral 19-7 in the second to take a 34-14 lead before taking the win in the 7-1A tournament.

Cathedral outscored MSD&160;5-4 in the third before getting edged 20-19 in the fourth.

&uot;The second half was our downfall,&uot; Cathedral head coach Peter Arnold said.&160;&uot;We had several turnovers, and they converted them into points. The game got away from us there. We played well the second half, but the second quarter did us in.&uot;

Cathedral’s two seniors went out with a bang as Kelsey Stephens had 15 points and Kristen Ater had nine points and 18 rebounds.