GULFPORT — Leroy Buchannan and Chase Carroll paced Madison Central with 11 points each as the Jaguars, ranked No. 9 in the latest Clarion-Ledger Boys’ Super 10 poll, used a big third quarter to defeat the Natchez High Bulldogs 59-36 Saturday afternoon in the fifth-place game of the Gulfport Hardwood Classic.

Natchez High was playing its second ranked team of the three teams it played in this tournament held at Gulfport High School after facing No. 5 Gulfport in the opening round. The Bulldogs kept the Jaguars from getting into a rhythm in the first quarter, which ended in a 7-7 tie.

However, the Jaguars used a couple of key defensive stops to start to pull away from the Bulldogs en route to a 23-16 halftime lead.

“I think they have a really good team. We played a real strong half against a championship-caliber team,” Natchez High assistant coach David Haywood said. “Towards the end of the second quarter, we got a couple of turnovers that led to a couple of baksets.”

Haywood noted that Joniah White, a 6-11 junior center for the Jaguars, blocked at least 10 shots in the game and that his presence alone can force the opposition to make a lot of mistakes. And that happened to the Bulldogs.

Madison Central dominated Natchez High on both ends of the court in the third quarter and outscored the Bulldogs 21-5 for a 46-21 lead.

As to what happened to the Bulldogs in the third quarter, Haywood said, “Missed opportunities. We had a bunch of turnovers. We had three or four turnovers that really turned the game around.”

De’Arius Griffin led Natchez High with 15 points. The next high scorer for the Bulldogs was Derrian Johnson with five points.

Haywood said the Bulldogs represented not only Natchez High but the city of Natchez very well despite losing two games. He pointed specifically to their win over St. Stanislaus on Friday and the first half against Madison Central.

Natchez High (7-8) hosts Lanier on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013.

Vidalia 68, Block 42

SICILY ISLAND, La. — Vidalia was originally scheduled to take on Tensas Parish Saturday night at the Sicily Island Tournament, but because of a conflict in the schedule, the Vikings ended up taking on the Block Bears.

And the Vikings took advantage by topping Block and picking up their second win of the season. Vidalia had three players score in double figures with Deion Brown leading the way with a game-high 18 points, followed by Julius Wilson with 14 points and Terrell Virgis chipping in with 11 points.

Vidalia jumped out to a 15-9 lead over Block after one quarter of play and increased its lead to 15 points at 34-19 at halftime. The Bears were never able to get back into the game in the second half thanks to some solid defense displayed by the Vikings.

Block was led by Dorian Bowman with 12 point and Trevor Vault added nine points.

Vidalia (2-13) hosts Sicily Island on Friday. Block hosts Jena on Friday.

Northwood-Lena 47, Ferriday 34

SICILY ISLAND, La. — The Northwood-Lena Gators rallied from a five-point halftime deficit to defeat the Ferriday Trojans Saturday afternoon at the Sicily Island Tournament.

Ferriday played well in the first half and led Northwood-Lena 23-18 at the half. But the Gators responded by outscoring the Trojans 14-11 in the third quarter and 15-10 in the fourth quarter.

Shannon Morales led the Trojans with 12 points while Quavion Ellis, who scored 31 points in a win over Tensas Parish Friday night, was held to just nine points by the Gators.

Ferriday (5-10) hosts Sterlington to open up LHSAA District 2-2A play on Tuesday, Jan. 8.

Silliman 61, WCCA 35

BROOKHAVEN — Jalen Washington led Wilkinson County Christian Academy with 11 points, but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Rams lost to the Silliman Institute Wildcats Saturday afternoon at the Brookhaven Academy Holiday Invitational.

WCCA trailed Silliman 18-10 after one quarter of play before being done in by a bad second quarter in which the Rams scored just four points while the Wildcats put up 16 points to go into halftime with a 34-14 lead.

Dra Tolliver had 10 points for the Rams, who only had four players total end up in the scoring column. The Wildcats, on the other hand, had 12 players score for them. They were led by Peyton Moody with 13 points and Wesley Hoover with 11 points.

WCCA (1-8) returns to MAIS District 6-A action on Friday, when it hosts Tallulah Academy.