Fayette — The Jefferson County girls basketball team may have taken a slight break in the middle of the game, but the Lady Tigers still pulled out an easy 55-40 win against Prentiss High in the first night of the Jefferson County Holiday Tournament.

The Lady Tigers came out charging with an 18-point first quarter and a 31-point half.

Prentiss High, on the other hand, got out to a slow start, scoring just 5 points in the first and 7 in the second quarter for a 9-point deficit going into the half.

But the Prentiss girls must have decided they weren’t going down quietly.

They scored 15 points in the third quarter to Jefferson County’s 7.

“We came out and scored early, but then we relaxed,” said Jefferson County coach Flora McKnight. “They got back into the game, within 10 or 13 points.”

But then, McKnight said, the Lady Tigers “picked up the tempo,” scoring 17 in the fourth quarter.

Prentiss scored 13, which wasn’t nearly enough.

“When we play slow we don’t play as well,” McKnight said. “When we pick it up we can score well in transition.”

McKnight said part of the problem was that she began subbing in backup players in the second quarter, causing the team to lose a bit of its focus.

“When you start subbing in players a lot, you lose your momentum,” she said.

Erin Wells scored a career-high 30 points for Jefferson County, and Charlitia White scored 10 for the Lady Tigers, who are now 6-6.

The tournament resumes Friday.

Jefferson County boys 80, Prentiss 56

The Tigers might have taken an early and permanent lead, but that didn’t stop them from running up the score against Prentiss in the second half Tuesday night.

After taking a 32-23 lead at halftime, Jefferson County scored 21 points in the third and 27 in the fourth to guarantee a win. Prentiss scored just 33 points in the second half.

Jefferson County coach LaRondrial Barnes said the second-half intensity was due to the Tigers’ previous game, which they lost to Franklin County by 5 points after leading by 11 through three quarters.

“We let a few slide that way,” Barnes said. “So our focus and all our intensity has been on finishing ballgames. We had a heavy emphasis on finishing strong, and the message got through.

“They were extremely focused.”

Barnes said the Tigers showed a bit of a lack of intensity to start the third quarter but regained it in the fourth.

Jefferson County had three scorers in double digits — Davion Noble scored 28, Chemenski Tenner scored 25 and Trellvion Gaines scored 20.

“Trellvion is our leader,” Barnes said. “Without a doubt he is a very vital part of what we’re trying to get accomplished here.

Chemenski has recently shown very strong potential — he gets us going as our pointguard — and Davion is coming off a 33-point game against Franklin County.”