BROOKHAVEN — Despite nearly squandering an early double-digit lead early in the fourth quarter, the Natchez High Lady Bulldogs held on for a 61-54 win over South Pike Saturday night to win the girls’ championship of the Brookhaven Tournament.

Natchez High led 15-5 after one quarter of play, but the Lady Eagles continued to chip away at the lead and were down just two at the end of the third quarter. But the Lady Bulldogs were not going to be denied on this night as they outscored the Lady Eagles 21-16 in the fourth quarter.

“South Pike, they played their hearts out. They scrapped and they hustled and they fought until the end. We had a few turnovers, but we persevered. We made up for them,” Lady Bulldogs head coach Sue Johnson said. “I’m proud of them for that. We’ve got to learn to get a lead and keep it.”

Alia Frank led all scorers with 29 points and Keosha Bradley added 16 points for Natchez High, which improved to 8-2 on the season. Despite the win, fatigue became a factor for the Lady Bulldogs.

“We played Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday (at Vicksburg/Warren Central Classic), then Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday (Amite County, Franklin County, Jefferson County), then Monday-Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday (Wilkinson County, Brookhaven Tournament),” Johnson said. “They were worn out. The girls pushed hard. We’re going to give them a few days off and then we’re going to go back to the drawing board.”

South Pike was led by T. Cook with 12 points. K. Addison and V. Eubanks each chipped in with eight points.

Trinity boys 39, Silliman Institute 36

CLINTON, La. — Brandon Daggs scored the Saints’ only points of the fourth quarter, a game-winning three-pointer to overcome Silliman Saturday night. Trinity went into the fourth quarter ahead by three points before Silliman’s German exchange student Florian Doeinck made 3-of-4 free throws, the Wildcats’ only points of the quarter. The Saints then stalled on the ball for nearly five minutes until Daggs made the shot with less than 30 second left in the game.

“We couldn’t play inside very well because Andrew Johnson had gotten three fouls in the first half,” said assistant coach Kent Knee. “ We were having to kind of depend on some outside shooting, and we weren’t making the inside shots so Coach (David) King decided to slow the game down.”

Daggs and Givonni Dent led the Saints with 14 points each, and Doeinck was 8-of-9 from the free-throw line for the Wildcats. Johnson and Dent were named to the Silliman Shootout’s all-tournament team, and Daggs was the all-tournament team Most Valuable Player.

Trinity girls 47, Amite School Center 16

CLINTON, La. — Caroline Ketchings scored 23 to lead the Lady Saints past the Lady Rebels. She and Madelyn Cross, who scored 4 points and added 14 rebounds, were both named to the Silliman Shootout’s all-tournament team. The Lady Saints took an early four-point lead and continued to extend it, while the Lady Rebels failed to score in the third quarter and added just four points in the fourth.

Oak Forest girls 52, Huntington 15

CLINTON, La. — The Lady Yellow Jackets are one of the top teams in MPSA Class AA and they proved it Saturday night with an impressive win over the Lady Hounds in the girls’ championship game of the Silliman Shootout.

“Oak Forest has got a real good team. I think they’re undefeated. They’re ranked pretty high in AA,” Huntington head coach Nicky Pere’ said. “I’m proud of my girls for getting to the finals.”

Clinton

Bowling Green boys 64, Huntington 44

CLINTON, La. — Tyler Pere’ scored 17 points and Phillip Washington had 10 points, but it was not nearly enough as the Buccaneers defeated the Hounds (1-2) Saturday night in the consolation game of the Silliman Shootout.

Huntington boys 77, Amite School Center 27

CLINTON, La. — The Hounds advanced to the consolation game with a resounding 50-point win over the Rebels in a losers’ bracket game earlier in the day Saturday.

Tyler Pere’ led all scorers with 25 points while Jeremy Randall and Kevin Brown each contributed with 14 points.

Central Private boys 64, Centreville 39

CLINTON, La. — After getting back in the game in the second quarter, Centreville was unable to keep the momentum going in the third quarter and ended up losing to the Rebels in an elimination game at the Silliman Shootout Saturday afternoon.

Central Private appeared to be on its way to an easy win after jumping out to a 21-8 lead over Centreville at the end of the first quarter. But the Tigers had other ideas as held the Rebels to just five points in the second quarter and trailed 26-22 at halftime.

However, any thoughts of a come-from-behind win by the Tigers were quickly squashed as the Rebels outscored them 28-5 in the third quarter to expand their lead to an comfortable 27 points.

Jamie Dezendorf led Centreville (1-2) with 16 points and Blake Babel had 11 points. Central Private was led by Jason Young with 24 points and Britt Meyer finished with 21 points.