LAFAYETTE, La. — It’s been several years since Natchez High not only played this well at the Sunkist Shootout, but also won at least two games in this prestigious tournament.

Well, thanks to a tremendous defensive effort in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs rallied to defeat the Comeaux Spartans 57-52 Monday afternoon and advance to the consolation finals against St. Paul’s at 2:30 p.m. today.

Natchez High trailed Comeaux 43-41 at the end of the third quarter. But in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs did a better job defending the pick and roll that the Spartans used effectively.

Jeremy McMorris, who led the Bulldogs with 17 points, said defense, rebounding and contesting shots were the key to the come-from-behind win.

Natchez High (8-8) outscored Comeaux 16-9 in the fourth quarter. Cody Dixon and Kenry Lewis were held in check throughout that quarter after helping Comeaux rally from a 14-11 deficit at the end of the third quarter. Dixon finished with a game-high 19 points and Lewis had 16 points.

Another factor in the outcome of this game was Natchez High’s balanced scoring. Four Bulldogs finished in double figures. In addition to McMorris, Trevon Chatman had 14 points, Brandon Holden scored 13 points and Kelli Puckett added 10 points.

“We shot pretty well to keep us in the game,” McMorris said. “We came out with some energy in the first two minutes. The second half, we came out with 100 percent energy.”

Ferriday girls 57, Block 40

SICILY ISLAND, La. — The Ferriday Lady Trojans nearly blew an 11-point lead in the second quarter, but they bounced back with a big third quarter en route to a 17-point win over the Block Lady Bears Monday night at the Sicily Island Tournament.

Ferriday got off to a good start on both ends of the court as its aggressive defense forced several turnovers, which turned into easy shots for the Lady Trojans. By the end of the first quarter, they had a 15-4 lead and looked like they were on their way to an easy win.

But Block, led by Desiree Savage and Tyra Jefferson, caught fire in the second quarter. The Lady Bears also did a better job contesting shots when Ferriday had the ball. The result was an 18-10 advantage and just like that it was a three-point game at halftime.

Savage led Block (4-10) with 16 points and Jefferson had 13 points.

Then the third quarter came and the momentum that Block had quickly disappeared as Ferriday turned up the pressure on the Lady Bears just like it did in the first quarter. With Chante Poole and Jasmine Butler leading the way, the Lady Trojans outscored the Lady Bears 23-9 to take a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter.

Poole led all scorers with 21 points while Butler finished with 15 points for Ferriday (9-6). The Lady Trojans will take on Franklin Parish today at 2:30 p.m.

St. Thomas More boys 70, Vidalia 68

LAFAYETTE, La. — Trailing by just two points to the host St. Thomas More Cougars at halftime, the Vidalia Vikings had their opportunities in the second half to get over the hump and pull off what would have been a big win.

Instead, Vidalia could neither make the key defensive stops nor make the critical shots as St. Thomas More held on for the two-point win on its home court Monday night in the semifinals of the Sunkist Shootout.

With the loss, Vidalia (7-4) will take on the loser of the St. Thomas Aquinas/Ellender game today at 5:30 p.m.

St. Thomas More led Vidalia 21-16 after one quarter of play only to see the Vikings outscore the Cougars 21-18 in the second quarter for a 39-37 Cougars lead at halftime.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, the Cougars matched them in scoring at the end of both the third and fourth quarters. And that was despite getting a game-high 24 points from Gary Stewart and 17 points from Torrey Dixon.

St. Thomas More had a much more balanced scoring attack and that was another key in the Cougars’ win. Xavier Blackburn led them with 20 points while James LeBlanc scored 13 points, Russ Brown had 11 points, Will Norman added 10 points and Evan Tatford chipped in with nine points.

Franklin County girls 47, Biloxi 44

PICAYUNE — CeeCee Miller scored 14 points and Vintrice Briggs had nine points as the Franklin County Lady Bulldogs overcame a six-point halftime deficit to stun the Class 6A Biloxi Lady Indians Monday night at the Picayune Tournament.

Franklin County (8-1) will take on Poplarville today at 11:30 a.m.

After a dismal second quarter in which Franklin County was outscored by Biloxi 17-7 and trailed 26-20 at halftime, the Lady Bulldogs regrouped in a big way in the second half and there little the Lady Indians could do to stop them.

Franklin County, one of the top teams in Class 3A, held Biloxi to just five points in the third quarter, which ended with the game tied at 31-31. The two teams went back and forth in the fourth quarter with the Lady Bulldogs taking the victory with a 16-13 edge over the Lady Indians.

C. Dunnings led Biloxi with a game-high 15 points and T. Smith chipped in with 10 points.

Meridian girls 58, Natchez High 45

HATTIESBURG — The Natchez High Lady Bulldogs tried to rally from a 10-point halftime deficit, but the Meridian Lady Wildcats used a strong fourth quarter to make sure that would not happen Monday afternoon at the Hattiesburg Holiday Classic.

Natchez High had a hard time finding its rhythm in the first half and part of that had to do with Meridian’s defense. The Lady Bulldogs fell behind 15-7 at the end of the first quarter and 28-18 at halftime. But they fought back in the third quarter to cut the lead to three points.

That, however, would be as close as Natchez High would get as Meridian closed out the game with an 18-8 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Anastasia Hutchins led Natchez High (7-6) with 21 points and Jasmine Belton had 11 points. The Lady Bulldogs will take on Starkville today at 10 a.m.

Trinity Episcopal boys go 1-1 at Brookhaven Academy tourney

BROOKHAVEN — Thanks to R.J. Fleming’s three-point play with just 17 seconds left in regulation, the Trinity Episcopal Saints defeated the Oak Forest Yellow Jackets 62-59 Monday afternoon at the Brookhaven Academy Holiday Classic.

Trinity Episcopal trailed Oak Forest 43-39 at the end of the third quarter. The game was tied at 59 until Fleming made a shot and was fouled, sending him to the free-throw line. He made the foul shot to give the Saints the eventual three-point win.

Fleming finished with 14 points while Brandon Daggs and Givonni Dent led Trinity Episcopal with 18 points each. Kent King had 10 points for the Saints.

The second game of the day for Trinity Episcopal didn’t turn out as good as the Saints lost to Class AA No. 1 Hillcrest Christian 63-47.

The first half was close throughout with the Cougars leading by just two points, 25-23, at halftime. But the Cougars showed why they are the best team in Class AA by imposing their will on the Saints in the second half.

Hillcrest outscored Trinity Episcopal 21-14 in the third quarter and 17-10 in the fourth quarter. Hartzog (no first name given) led the Cougars with 18 points while Chris Prather and Josh Rogers each had 14 points.

The Saints were led by Fleming with 18 points and Daggs with 12 points. They will take on Parklane Academy in a consolation game Wednesday at 2:15 p.m.