Antonio Jordan and Ricky Dunbar scored 15 points each to lead the Huntington Hounds to a 69-50 win over the Briarfield Rebels in the quarterfinals of the MPSA Class A State Tournament at University Christian School.

Huntington, ranked No. 1 in Class A, improved to 31-3 overall and will take on the winner of the Riverdale-University Christian game in the semifinals today at 7:15 p.m. The Hounds also clinched a berth in next week’s Overall Tournament.

The first quarter pretty much proved to be the key to Huntington’s win as they outscored the Rebels 17-4. The Hounds then took a 17-point halftime lead and then led by 25 points at the end of the third quarter.

Huntington’s balanced scoring attack was another factor in its win Thursday afternoon. Eleven players ended up in the scoring column. Trey Corbett and Brant Bradley contributed with nine points each.

Carthage boys 81, Jefferson County 72

CARTHAGE — Jefferson County head coach Marcus Walton felt like the Tigers had a better team than Region 5-3A champion Forest going into their quarterfinal round game of the MHSSAA Class 3A South State Tournament.

However, untimely turnovers, allowing too many offensive rebounds and having three players foul out in the fourth quarter proved to be costly as the Tigers lost to the Bearcats 81-72 Thursday afternoon.

“We made some key mistakes and key times. We did a poor job of rebounding. They had 10 or 12 offensive rebounds,” Walton said. “But you can’t make any excuses. You have to go out there and win.”

It also didn’t help that Jefferson County, the Region 6-3A runner-up, got off to a bad start and fell behind 7-0 early.

Jefferson County outscored Forest 19-11 in the third quarter and had a one-point lead, 57-56, as the quarter came to a close. Unfortunately, foul trouble plagued the Tigers in the fourth quarter as Keldrick Scott, Joseph Kemp and Shelbeon Trevillion ended up fouling out.

Trevillion led the Tigers with 23 points, but Kemp was held to nine points. Kadon Day finished with 21 points and Percy Turner had 11 points. Jefferson County finished with a 25-7 record.

Rod Lofton led Forest (21-2) with 20 points and Robert Williams had 18 points. The Bearcats will take on the winner of the Raleigh-Bailey game today at 6 p.m.

Carthage boys 65, Franklin County 54

CARTHAGE — O’Neal Wilder scored 18 points and ZeErika Hall had 15 points as the host Tigers defeated the Bulldogs in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A South State Tournament Thursday night.

The loss ended Franklin County’s unexpected trip to the South State Tournament after the Bulldogs’ stunning upset win at Yazoo County Tuesday night. Jarvis Hunt led the Bulldogs (9-21) with 15 points and Jordan Hunt added 11 points.

Carthage (24-3) will take on Collins, the No. 2 seed out of Region 8-2A, in the semifinals today at 7:30 p.m. Collins defeated Wilkinson County 56-52 in another quarterfinal match-up.

Southeast Lauderdale girls 60, Franklin County 31

MERIDIAN — The Lady Bulldogs got off to a bad start and the Lady Tigers took advantage as they jumped out to a big lead en route to a 29-point win in the quarterfinals of the girls’ Class 3A South State Tournament at Southeast Lauderdale.

Franklin County (23-6) scored just two points in the first quarter and trailed 19-2. The Lady Bulldogs then trailed 31-9 at halftime.

“In the first quarter, we missed 10 shots in the paint,” Moore said. “We just had poor shooting in the first half. We had some good looks.”

The Lady Bulldogs could only get as close as 16 points in the second half, but the Lady Tigers were too much to handle.

“Once they got up by 20, it stayed that way the rest of the game,” Moore said.

Collins boys 56, Wilkinson County 52

CARTHAGE — William and Kraven Keys combined to score 40 points as the Tigers rallied in the second half to defeat the Wildcats in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A South State Tournament.

William Keys led all scorers with 25 points and Kraven Keys chipped in with 15 points for Collins, which improved to 23-7 overall. Gary James led Wilkinson County (28-6) with 18 points and Mitchell Thompson had 11 points. Kenny Harden, who had some big games for the Wildcats recently, was held to just three points.