SUMMIT &045; There will be no return to the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson, known as the &uot;Big House,&uot; and the Class 3A State Tournament for the Jefferson County Tigers this season.

Despite giving a valiant effort, Jefferson County couldn’t overcome the injury bug and lost to the West Lauderdale Knights 75-61 Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A South State Tournament.

West Lauderdale (27-8), the Region 5 champion, will take on the winner of the Columbia-Port Gibson game in the semifinals at 6 p.m. today. Jefferson County finished its season with a 15-19 record.

&uot;The key point was we came in excited after the Crystal Springs game. Then things turned against us,&uot; Jefferson County head coach Marcus Walton said. &uot;Then Dudley Guice (Jr.) went down in the first quarter, possibly in the first two minutes, with an ankle injury.&uot;

Guice did not return to the game,

and then later in the game Joshfer Nichols, who scored 17 points, had a hard fall and hurt his back. Nichols was able to continue to play, however.

Chris Carradine led Jefferson County with a game-high 26 points.

&uot;Our team played hard. Carradine and Nichols played an exceptional game,&uot; Walton said. &uot;We just didn’t get it done tonight.&uot;

Choctaw Central 66, Franklin Co. 43

PHILADELPHIA &045; For the Franklin County Lady Bulldogs to have had any chance to defeat Choctaw Central, they would have had to hold the Lady Warriors’ Chantay Frazier well under her average of 20 points a game.

That probably would have happened on Franklin County’s home court or perhaps on a neutral court, but not at Choctaw Central, host of the girls’ Class 3A South State Tournament.

Frazier finished with a game-high 21 points as the Lady Warriors, the eighth-ranked team in the state and the Region 5 champions, defeated the Lady Bulldogs 66-43 Thursday night.

&uot;She’s a good player,&uot; Lady Bulldogs head coach Charles Moore said. &uot;She had a wide variety of shots.&uot;

Choctaw Central (32-2) will play Region 7’s No. 2 seed North Pike, a 50-34 winner over Columbia, in the semifinals at 6 p.m. today.

Even though Franklin County (16-8), the No. 4 seed out of Region 7, was eliminated, Moore had nothing but good things to say about his team.

&uot;We accomplished two things &045; we got out of district and we made it to South State,&uot; Moore said. &uot;We held them to the 60s. They’ve been averaging 85 or 90 points a game.&uot;

Victoria Hunt led the Lady Bulldogs with 19 points.

But with this being the first time at South State for this group of players, youth and inexperience at this stage of the season played a big role.

&uot;We just had to adjust to their press. Offensively, we couldn’t make our shots,&uot; Moore said. &uot;We got some good looks, but they weren’t going in.&uot;

Choctaw Central put the pressure on a Franklin County team with no seniors early on as the Lady Warriors jumped out to an 18-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Lady Warriors steadily increased their lead throughout the rest of the game, taking a 36-20 halftime lead and a 53-35 lead after three quarters of play.

&uot;Choctaw Central’s good,&uot; Moore said. &uot;They played good, hard-nosed defense. Perpetual motion.&uot;

Southeast Lauderdale 89, Wilkinson County 60

The Lady Wildcats knew they were going to have their hands full with the 10th-ranked Lady Tigers Tuesday afternoon in this 3A South State quarterfinal matchup.

And that’s exactly what happened as Samantha Smith and Lashondra Hall led five Southeast Lauderdale players in double figures with 17 points each as the Region 5 champs eliminated the Lady Wildacts (19-12), Region 7’s No. 3 seed.

Latoya Bailey had a game-high 25 points and Latasha Williams had 14 points to lead Wilkinson County, but Kim Griffin, the Lady Wildcats’ leading scorer, was held to just four points.

Southeast Lauderdale (32-2) led just 20-16 after one quarter of play, but had a 19-11 advantage in the second quarter for a 12-point halftime lead.

The Lady Tigers finally put the game away by outscoring the Lady Wildcats 24-10 in the fourth quarter.