NATCHEZ &8212; When Franklin County abandoned its 2-3 zone for a man-to-man, Natchez High&8217;s Bulldogs had to have let out of a sigh of relief.

But by the time it happened, it may have been too late.

Franklin County led 40-28 after three and had to abandon its zone when Natchez High finally hit some shots from the outside. Then the man allowed Natchez to penetrate the lane and cut the lead.

But it wasn&8217;t enough time to close the gap. Franklin County held on, 53-46.

&8220;I didn&8217;t come to practice &8212; me and C.J. Wright &8212; and that&8217;s why we didn&8217;t start,&8221; said guard Michael Chatman, who had 11 points behind Dewong Hughes&8217; team-high 14. &8220;Coach didn&8217;t put us in until the second quarter. I&8217;m not bragging, but if we would have gotten in a little earlier, the game wouldn&8217;t have been like that. They can&8217;t hold us one on one.&8221;

The zone gave Natchez fits, particularly with a back row of Marcus Tillman, Bo Tillman and Wesley Brown &8212; all 6-3 or better. Franklin County held Natchez to six points in the second quarter and nine in the third, including Chatman&8217;s triple at the 1:25 mark in the third that cut the lead to 36-24.

Brown &8212; who finished with 24 points &8212; came with a monster dunk with 19 seconds left in the third to put the lead at 40-26.

&8220;When we put the other Tillman kid in there, he&8217;s not a very good man player,&8221; Franklin head coach Chris Jordan said. &8220;But he does a good job in the zone. We had to hope they didn&8217;t shoot the ball well. I&8217;m sure they&8217;ve shot it better.&8221;

Franklin Parish 57, Vidalia 52

WINNSBORO, La. &8212; The Vikings overcame a sluggish start to get back in the game, but a stale fourth quarter put a damper on any hopes of taking the win.

Vidalia trailed 17-8 after one before leading 43-41 heading into the fourth quarter. Jarvis Whitley&8217;s 13 points was a team high.

Huntington 66, Franklin Academy 43

WINNSBORO, La. &8212; Despite having a couple of players struggle offensively, the Huntington Hounds, ranked No. 5 in Class A, rolled to a 66-43 win over the Franklin Academy Cougars Tuesday night in the District 7-A opener for both teams.

While Ricky Dunbar had his worst game of the season with just two points, the trio of Antonio Jordan, Brandt Bradley and Stan Hazlip more than made up for that by combining for 47 points.

&8220;We jumped on them early,&8221; Hounds head coach David Boydstun said. &8220;We shot the ball well. Had good pressure with our press.&8221;

That press defense led to numerous turnovers, which led to easy baskets for Huntington (1-0, 15-1). The Hounds led 24-4 at the end of the first quarter and looked like they were on their way to an easy win.

&8220;About halfway through the second quarter we went cold,&8221; Boydstun said. &8220;We tried to sub a little bit, but we didn&8217;t get anything out of our second group. We didn&8217;t have a good offensive ball game.&8221;

Centreville 59, Trinity Episcopal 43

CENTREVILLE &8212; Trinity&8217;s Stevan Ridley was still out of town and the Tigers took advantage, especially in the third quarter when they outscored the Saints 14-5 to take a 44-27 lead en route to the win in District 4-AA.

Drew Davis led Centreville (3-2, 4-8) with a game-high 20 points. Tripp Bryant led the Saints (3-2, 10-4) with 16 points.

South Pike 58, Wilkinson County 53

SUMMIT &8212; The second quarter proved to be the difference as South Pike outscored Wilkinson County 14-8 and held on for the win in a key Region 7-3A game for both teams.

If not for that second quarter, the Wildcats (2-2, 5-12) would have been able to pull off a huge upset win over a very good South Pike team

Thomas McQuarter led Wilkinson County with 15 points and Fulton Collins had 13 points. T. Brown had 19 points to lead South Pike.

Ferriday 64, Davidson 44

FERRIDAY &8212; The Trojans have played .500 basketball since a 13-1 start and it somewhat showed in the first half against the Warriors &8212; plenty of offense, but a shaky defense that allowed the visitors to stay in the game.

But the third quarter was a completely different story as Ferriday (16-4) played outstanding basketball on both ends of the court en route to a 23-10 advantage that put the game away.

Eric Crump led the Trojans with 18 points and Matthew Smith had 10 points. Ramsey Bethel led Davidson with 11 points.

Tensas 59, Briarfield 49

ST. JOSEPH, La. &8212; With Tensas leading by just three points at the end of the first half, the Chiefs knew they would have to turn up the defensive intensity to defeat the Rebels in the District 7-A opene.

Which is exactly what happened in the third quarter as Tensas (1-0, 8-7) outscored Briarfield 20-12 in the pivotal third quarter to pull away for the win despite a 27-point effort by the Rebels&8217; Jeff Graham.