Mitchell Thompson finished with a game-high 25 points and Lawrence Cage had 23 points to lead four Wilkinson County players in double figures as the Wildcats defeated Hazlehurst 80-66 Tuesday night in the first round of the Class 3A South State playoffs.

Corey Anthony scored 14 points and Kenny Harden added 10 points for the Region 7-3A champion Wildcats, who improved to 28-5 overall and advanced to the Class 3A South State Tournament at Carthage. They will take on the winner of the Southeast Lauderdale-Collins game Thursday at 8:30 p.m.

The Wildcats used a dominant second quarter to take a nine-point halftime lead.

Led by Fred Fuller and Antonio Harris, the Indians rallied in third quarter as they outscored the Wildcats 23-14 to tie the game once again, this time at 52-52. Fuller finished with 23 points and Harris had 15 points.

But having the home-court advantage worked wonders for Wilkinson County in the fourth quarter as it ended up with a 28-14 advantage to put the game away and keep the season going for the Wildcats.

Kendrick Bailey added 14 points and Pierre Reese had 11 points for the Indians.

Franklin County 42, Yazoo County 38 (OT)

YAZOO CITY — No one gave the Bulldogs a chance to even stay close with the defending Class 3A State champion Panthers Tuesday night in their South State first-round game.

Especially given that Franklin County, the No. 4 seed from Region 7-3A, went into this game with an 8-20 record. But the Bulldogs pulled off the most shocking upset of the day as they defeated Yazoo County in overtime.

Franklin County will take on Carthage in the first round of the Class 3A South State Tournament at Carthage Thursday at 7 p.m.

“We got lucky. We just got the breaks,” Bulldogs head coach Chris Jordan said. “Jarvis Hunt had a good game for us tonight.”

Hunt made a three-pointer with less than 40 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 38-38. Franklin County won the game by outscoring Yazoo County 4-0 in overtime.

“Jarvis King hit a 15-footer to put us ahead and Jarvis Hunt hit two free throws to seal the deal,” Jordan said.

Hunt finished with eight points and King had four points for Franklin County, which was led by Jamie Collins with 13 points and Bo Tillman with 11 points.

Franklin County (9-20) got off to a good start and silenced the Yazoo County crowd en route to a 16-6 lead. But the Panthers got back in the game in the second quarter when they outscored the Bulldogs 12-7 and trailed by five points at halftime.

After a third quarter which saw both teams score 10 points, the Panthers appeared on their way to victory and advancing to the South State Tournament until Hunt made his big three to tie the game up.

“Yazoo County did a good job running their offense,” Jordan said. “They missed some free throws and we took advantage.”

Johnathan Ratliff and Reginald Gilbert scored 10 points each to lead the Panthers.

Jefferson County boys 75, Columbia 67

FAYETTE — Four Jefferson County players scored in double figures as the Tigers used a big second quarter to defeat the Wildcats in the first round of the Class 3A South State playoffs Tuesday night.

Jefferson County, now 25-6, will take on the winner of the Prentiss-Forest game Thursday at 4 p.m. in the first round of the Class 3A South State Tournament, which will take place at Carthage.

Kadon Day led Jefferson County with 25 points and Joseph Kemp had 24 points. Shelbeon Trevillion and Percy Turner had 11 points each.

“That’s been the best thing we’ve had this season,” Walton said. “We’ve had a balanced attack. We don’t have to rely on one or two people to score. Shelbeon is a player we’ve been grooming for this time of year. He really stepped up tonight.”

Columbia, the No. 3 seed out of Region 7-3A, stayed with Jefferson County, the No. 2 seed out of Region 6-3A, in the first quarter and trailed by just one point, 19-18. But once the second quarter began, the Tigers got down to business as they outscored the Wildcats 25-13 to take a 44-31 lead at halftime.

“Very high-paced game. Columbia’s a very well-coached team,” Walton said. “My kids did a good job of handling the pressure and making sound decisions. The guard play was solid. It was a team effort.”

Columbia tried to rally in the second half, but it was not meant to be as its season came to an end.

Bayou Academy girls 53, Tensas Academy 45

FLOWOOD — Nearly every player on the Tensas Lady Chiefs was making their first-ever appearance in the MPSA Class A State Tournament Tuesday afternoon.

Being a young team that it is, Tensas perhaps was expected to make some mistakes early on. Unfortunately, the Lady Chiefs made too many mistakes in the first half and Bayou Academy took advantage.

A strong second half rally by the Lady Chiefs came up just a bit short as their season came to an end with a 53-45 loss to the Lady Colts in the first round.

“We just played real nervous the first couple of quarters. We were throwing it away and taking bad shots,” Lady Chiefs head coach Allen Crigler said. “We finally played some ball in the second half. We got as close as three.”

Tensas also didn’t help its cause in the latter stages of the game in its attempted rally by having three players fouling out and having just enough players to finish the game.

Bayou Academy, the North No. 3 seed, led 9-7 after one quarter of play. The second quarter pretty much belonged to the Lady Colts as they converted turnovers in easy lay-ups. The result was a 14-6 advantage and a 23-13 halftime lead.

Brittni Chunn led Bayou Academy with 14 points. Meghan Brown had 12 points and Alyssa Cummins chipped in with 11 points.

Tensas Academy, the South No. 2 seed, trailed by 15 points as the third quarter came to a close. But the Lady Chiefs wouldn’t go away easily as they outscored Bayou Academy by 12 points at one point in the fourth quarter before the Lady Colts pulled away late.

“They mostly played man and switched a 1-2-2 zone,” Crigler said. “I thought their man was more effective.”

Kaitlen Emfinger led Tensas with a game-high 20 points, but was the only Lady Chiefs player to score in double figures. The Lady Chiefs, the District 7-A champions, finished at 15-19.

“We had a good season considering how young we were,” Crigler said. “Winning district was the big highlight.”

Trinity Episcopal boys 43, Bayou Academy 26

FLOWOOD — In one of the most unusual second halves of a Class A State Tournament game in recent memory, Trinity outscored Bayou 14-0 in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 17-point win in first-round action Tuesday night.

This was after Trinity, the South No. 2 seed, was outscored by Bayou 15-6 in the third quarter. After trailing by 12 points at halftime, the Colts appeared to be right back in the game as the third quarter ended. But their offense was nowhere to be seen in the fourth quarter.

Stevan Ridley led Trinity with 12 points while Jon Davis King and Matthew Freeman had nine points each.

The Saints, 15-11, will take on Sharkey-Issaquena Academy today at 7:45 p.m. The winner of that game not only moves on the semifinals on Friday, but also automatically advances to next week’s Overall Tournament.

Sharkey-Issaquena pulled out a huge upset in a first-round game on Monday when the Confederates knocked off South Central champion Kemper Academy 48-45.

Bayou, the North No. 3 seed, had no one score in double figures. The Colts were led by Caleb Reed with eight points.