HAZLEHURST &045; Erika Lewis’s return to the lineup could not have come at a better time for the fifth-seeded Wilkinson County Lady Wildcats and head coach Edwin White.

Neither could the outstanding performance by Nakia Stewart as she poured in 19 points as the Lady Wildcats rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat the fourth-seeded Port Gibson Lady Blue Waves 52-45 Tuesday afternoon in the first round of the Region 7-3A Tournament.

Lewis scored eight points, but her ball-handling skills took the pressure off Latasha Williams. And she also inspired her teammates to play hard knowing this could have been their last game of the season.

&uot;With her in the lineup, we were able to our offense and ran our press,&uot; White said. &uot;We ran our plays more fluent. We were really glad to see her. Nakia shot the ball well. She made some big shots at the right time.&uot;

The first half went back and forth between the Wildcats and the Blue Waves.

Wilkinson County (17-10) held Port Gibson in check in the first quarter to take a 13-8 lead.

Port Gibson (16-11) then turned the tables in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Wildcats 16-10 to take a 24-23 halftime lead.

The Lady Blue Waves, thanks to a solid game by Marineka Neal, increased their lead to five points, 41-36, going into the fourth quarter.

Neal finished with a game-high 20 points.

Port Gibson 49, Franklin boys 42

This is not a misprint. The seventh-seeded Blue Waves shocked the second-seeded Bulldogs.

Port Gibson (9-20) advanced to the semifinals and will take on the winner of the Jefferson County/Hazlehurst game at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

Ryan Hedrick led Port Gibson with 15 points.

Franklin girls 56, Amite County 51

This wasn’t the blowout many expected, but the second-seeded Lady Bulldogs weren’t going to let the upset bug get to them as they held on to defeat the seventh-seeded Lady Trojans.

Franklin County (15-5) advanced to the semifinals to take on the winner of the Hazlehurst/Jefferson County game at 7 p.m. Thursday. Amite County finished at 1-19.

Victoria Hunt led Franklin County with a game-high 23 points.