HAZLEHURST — After three tough losses during the regular season, Jefferson County was not going to let Wilkinson County defeat them for a fourth time.

Not with so much on the line for both teams Friday night in the boys’ consolation game at the MHSAA Region 7-3A Tournament at Hazlehurst High School. For the Wildcats, this was not exactly how the tournament was supposed to have turned out.

Bouvier Ellis scored 19 points and Richard Miles added 18 points as the fourth-seeded Tigers held on for a 61-57 win over the second-seeded Wildcats to finish the tournament in third place. Wilkinson County, which entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed, ended up in fourth place.

“It was a very hard-fought game. This was the fourth time we’ve played Wilkinson County. The first three times could have gone either way, but they beat us all three times. The margin of victory of each game was no more than five points,” Jefferson County head coach Marcus Walton said.

Walton added that the key to the Tigers’ stunning win was that they finished the game — something he said they haven’t been able to do very often this season.

“All the credit goes to the kids. This is the time of year you hope you team gels. They pulled together as one and played total team basketball,” Walton said. “We defended and rebounded better tonight. And offensively, we made the extra pass and were able to get some lay-ups.”

After three quarters of play, Jefferson County was up by just one point, 39-38. However, the Tigers would not let the Wildcats get the best of them on this occasion as they put up 22 points to the Wildcats’ 19 points.

Jefferson County will play at the loser of the West Marion/Sumrall game Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Class 3A South State Playoffs while Wilkinson County will be at the winner of that game at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

The Wildcats were led by Kenyon McDonald with 17 points and Devin Fosselman with 16 points.

Trinity Episcopal 59, Riverdale 48

RAYVILLE, La. — Trinity Episcopal may not have played their best game Friday night at the MAIS Class A South State Tournament, but they played well enough to come out on top.

The third-ranked and District 6-A champion Saints got a game-high 17 points from Tanner Cage and 13 points from L.J. Trimble as they held off the fifth-ranked and District 7-A runner-up Riverdale Academy Rebels in a boys’ semifinal game at Riverfield Academy.

Givonni Dent added 12 points for Trinity (25-5), which will take on second-ranked and District 7-A champion Claiborne Academy today at 7:15 p.m. in the boys’ championship game.

Bogue Chitto 49, Cathedral 35

JACKSON — Garrett Wallace led Bogue Chitto with 11 points and Germie Martin added 10 points as the Bobcats defeated the Cathedral Green Wave Friday night in the boys’ third/fourth place game at the Region 7-1A Tournament at Mississippi School for the Deaf.

Cathedral (10-15) was led by Luke Whitaker with a game-high 12 points. The Green Wave will play at Region 8-1A champion Dexter in the first round of the Class 1A South State Playoffs next Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Block 65, Tensas High 62

JONESVILLE — Fred Green led Block with 19 points while Ken Colbert scored 18 points as the Bears held on to defeat the Tensas High Panthers Friday night to finish in second place in District 3-1A.

Preston Bowman added 17 points for Block (13-9, 8-2).

Watkins said he won’t know until sometime next week who Block will play and where in the first round of the LHSAA Class 1A Playoffs.