GREENVILLE &045; The Tensas Lady Chiefs’ march to the MPSA Class A South State championship game came to a halt Friday afternoon at Greenville Christian School.

Tensas tried to rally from a double-digit deficit late in the fourth quarter, but a costly turnover in the waning seconds helped give the Deer Creek Lady Warriors a 48-44 win in the semifinals.

&uot;I thought we had our opportunities,&uot; Lady Chiefs head coach Chuck Bauerle said. &uot;We just had a poor night shooting tonight.&uot;

Hope Christian led Deer Creek with 12 points. Tabitha Howard led Tensas with a game-high 14 points, but as Bauerle noted, no one else stepped up when they needed to.

Now the Lady Chiefs (23-5), the No. 1 seed from District 7, will face the Riverdale Lady Rebels, the No. 3 seed from District 6 in the third-place game at 1 p.m. today.

Tensas got off to a good start in the first quarter as the Lady Chiefs didn’t let Deer Creek’s press defense bother them too much for a 13-7 lead.

But the second quarter belonged to the Lady Warriors as they got the ball inside to try to wear down the Lady Chiefs.

The strategy worked as Deer Creek outscored Tensas 16-5 in the second quarter to take a 23-18 halftime lead.

Trinity boys 50, Franklin 42

The Saints won the battle of two teams that went undefeated in their respected district by using a tough defense to advance to the Class A South State championship game.

Trinity Episcopal (16-10) will be looking to win its third straight South State championship and fourth in the last six years when it takes on the winner of the Riverdale-Glenbrook game at 7:30 p.m. today.

&uot;When you get to this, you’re used to seeing the same old faces,&uot; Saints head coach David King said.

Robert Manson led Trinity with 18 points.

&uot;It was a total team effort,&uot; King said. &uot;They just did everything we asked them to do. Tradition got us over the hump.&uot;

Trinity trailed Franklin 10-7 at the end of the first quarter. But the Saints turned up the defensive intensity in the second quarter to shut down the Cougars

holding them to just four points en route to a 24-14 halftime lead.

&uot;Our defense was relentless,&uot; King said. &uot;Every one of them, defensively they’ve stepped up.&uot;

The Cougars tried their best to rally in the second half, but Saints nearly matched them point for point in the second half.