LIBERTY — The Franklin County Bulldogs will not be the only team from the Meadville school that will be playing for a championship in the Region 7-3A Tournament.

The Lady Bulldogs will be there too after defeating the North Pike 58-47 Thursday night at Amite County High School. And they did so with a combination of a balanced offense and some outstanding defense.

“We were able to put a lot of pressure on their guards, and we created some turnovers early,” Franklin County coach Charles Moore said. “We were a little quicker than they were.”

Franklin County, the No. 2 seed, got North Pike off balance in the first quarter and took a 14-9 lead at the end of the quarter. The Lady Bulldogs pushed their lead to 10 points during the second quarter before the Lady Jaguars cut the lead to 5 points at halftime.

The Lady Bulldogs led by just 7 points at the end of the third quarter before dominating the early stages of the fourth to stretch their lead to 15 points.

Franklin County (15-11) had four players score at least 9 points. CeeCee Davis Miller led all scorers with 18 points, while Leondra Shaw had 10 points. Monique Starks and Vintrice Briggs each finished with 9 points.

The Lady Bulldogs will take on top-seeded and fifth-ranked South Pike in the girls’ championship game at 7 p.m. today. The Lady Eagles defeated Amite County Wednesday night to improve to 24-4.

North Pike will take on Amite County in the third-place game at 4 p.m. today.

Wilkinson County boys 80,

Tylertown 52

LIBERTY — Tylertown had no answer for Wilkinson County’s Kenny Harden, who led all scorers with 30 points to lead the second-seeded Wildcats past the Chiefs in the semifinals of the Region 7-3A Tournament at Amite County High School.

Wilkinson County jumped out to a 17-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and then put the game out of reach with a 21-10 advantage in the second quarter for a commanding 38-18 halftime lead.

The Wildcats showed no mercy on Tylertown in the second half as they continued to add to their lead. Darrius Knox scored 10 points and Brian Montgomery added nine points.

Wilkinson County will take on top-seeded Franklin County in the boys’ championship game toady at 8:30 p.m. The Bulldogs got past South Pike 58-52 Wednesday afternoon in another semifinal game.

Tylertown was led by Jawon Jackson with 12 points and Damion Magee with nine points. The Chiefs will take on South Pike in the consolation game today at 5:30 p.m.