FAYETTE — Three days after a stunning one-point loss to Wilkinson County in the opening game of the Jefferson County Holiday Tournament, the Hinds Agricultural High School Lady Bulldogs were looking to get back on track.

But to do that, the fifth-ranked team in Class 2A had to get past the Jefferson County Lady Tigers, who were looking to keep their own momentum going after a 15-point win over Prentiss High on Tuesday night.

After a sluggish first half offensively, the Lady Bulldogs were able to produce points off turnovers in the third quarter, and that enabled them to pull away for a tougher-than-expected 48-34 win over the Lady Tigers to improve to 10-3 overall.

Lady Tigers head coach Flora McKnight also noted that free-throw shooting played a major part in the outcome of the game

“When you shoot 6-from-22 from the free-throw line that’s the result you’re going to get,” she said.

Hinds AHS stayed in its 1-2-2 press defense the entire game and forced 21 Jefferson County turnovers. Yet in the first half, the Lady Tigers did not let that deter them — not even after trailing 8-4 at the end of the first quarter. The host team outscored the Lady Bulldogs 15-10 in the second quarter and found itself ahead 19-18 at halftime.

However, the turnover bug got to the Lady Tigers in the third quarter and the Lady Bulldogs took advantage of those miscues. Jefferson County scored just four points in that quarter while Hinds AHS had 17 points.

“Too many turnovers. We just didn’t play well,” McKnight said.

Jerrica Noel led Hinds AHS with 19 points, and Leanna Washington had 15 points. Jefferson County (6-7) was led by Charlita White with nine points while Charika Carradine and Erin Wells had seven points each.

Wilkinson County girls 57, Prentiss 45

Day 2 of the Jefferson County Holiday Tournament was no letdown game for the Wilkinson County Lady Wildcats as they defeated the Prentiss Lady Bulldogs by 12 points Friday afternoon.

Four Wilkinson County players ended up in double figures. Tyeshia Lee led the Lady Wildcats with a game-high 20 points. L. Brown and Tyeshia Harris each had 11 points and Breshiana Day added 10 points.

Wilkinson County trailed Prentiss 13-11 after one quarter of play, but that deficit didn’t last long. Thanks to a 20-10 advantage in the second quarter, the Lady Wildcats went into halftime up 31-23. The Lady Bulldogs tried to get back in the game in the second half, but the Lady Wildcats made sure that did not happen.

Latressia Hall led Prentiss with 16 points and Mary Smith chipped in with 11 points.

Hinds AHS boys 93, Jefferson County 66

Jefferson County had no answer for Hinds AHS’s Keeslee Stewart, who led all scorers with 41 points in leading the Bulldogs past the Tigers to wrap up Day 2 action at the Jefferson County Holiday Tournament.

Stewart was one of four Hinds AHS players to score in double figures. Erik Burks finished with 25 points while Derek Burks had 12 points and Travis Thomas scored 10 points.

The first quarter was fast-paced and went back and forth between the two teams. When the quarter was over, the Bulldogs had a 22-21 lead over the Tigers. But any thoughts of this game continuing to be this close came to a screeching halt in the second quarter.

That’s when Hinds AHS (11-2) took over the game as it outscored Jefferson County 27-14 to take a 14-point halftime lead. The Bulldogs did not let up in the third quarter either as they scored 29 points while the Tigers were held to 12 points.

Davian Noble did his part to help keep Jefferson County (3-7) in the game with a 31-point performance, but it was not enough. Kiwaski Tenner and Terry Tenner each scored 12 points for the Tigers.

Wilkinson County boys 79, Prentiss 49

Led by Quantarius Lee and Kenny Harden, the Wilkinson County Wildcats bounced back from a blowout loss to Hinds AHS on Tuesday with a convincing 30-point rout of Prentiss Friday night at the Jefferson County Holiday Tournament.

Lee led Wilkinson County with 19 points and Harden scored 17 points. John Moore III added 13 points for the Wildcats. Wilkinson County held a 10-4 lead over Prentiss at the end of the first quarter and then put the game out of reach with a 21-11 edge in the second quarter.

The Wildcats’ offense was even better in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter when they put up 29 points.

L. Magge led the Bulldogs with a game-high 27 points and Neno Jackson had 11 points.