MONTEREY — Kristin Russell led Monterey with 13 points and Jessica McNeil had seven points as the Monterey Lady Wolves used a big second half to defeat the LaSalle Lady Tigers 41-24 Thursday night.

Perhaps the first half was a case of both teams trying to get the holidays behind them and back into a rhythm. Monterey led LaSalle 10-8 after one quarter of play and still led by just two points at halftime, 19-17.

Then the Lady Wolves put the clamps on the Lady Tigers in the second half to turn a close game into a blowout. Monterey held LaSalle to a mere two points in the third quarter and just five in the fourth quarter while scoring 11 points in each quarter itself.

Kaley Baker and Karlee Woodruff added six points each for Monterey. Meghan Knight led LaSalle with a game-high 16 points, but the next high scorer for the Lady Tigers was Kaitlyn Knight with four points.

Monterey (14-3) plays host to Calvin today.

Jefferson County girls 68, Columbia 47

FAYETTE — Brandy Buck didn’t score 30 points for Jefferson County like she did in Wednesday night’s win over Hinds Agricultural High School during the first day of the Jefferson County Tournament.

But she didn’t have to, because the Lady Tigers had four players score in double figures in their win over the Columbia High School Lady Wildcats Thursday night to stay undefeated in tournament action.

Buck led Jefferson County with a game-high 21 points and she got plenty of help from her teammates. Diamond Gaines scored 15 points, Diamond Smith had 13 points, and Taneisha Bailey added 10 points.

After a back-and-forth first quarter that ended with the Lady Tigers taking a 22-19 lead, the home team took over on both ends of the court. Columbia was held to just five points in the second quarter while Jefferson County scored 25 points en route to a 47-24 halftime lead. And by the time the game was over, the Lady Wildcats managed to cut just two points off that 23-point lead.

The Lady Tigers improved to 10-5 overall and will look to go 3-0 in their own tournament when they take on Jim Hill today at 6 p.m.

Centreville Academy boys 55, Silliman Institute 48

CENTREVILLE — Corey Gaulden, Dustin Williams and Jake Darden combined to score 44 points in leading the Centreville Academy Tigers to a come-from-behind victory over the Silliman Institute Wildcats Thursday night in MAIS District 6-AA action.

Gaulden finished with a game-high 18 points while Williams poured in 14 points and Darden chipped in with 12 points for Centreville. Even though the Tigers outscored Silliman 13-11 in the second quarter, they still trailed the Wildcats after each of the first three quarters — 13-10 after one quarter of play, 24-23 at halftime, and 39-36 at the end of the third quarter.

However, the Tigers’ defense allowed them to rally for the win in the fourth quarter as they ended up outscoring the Wildcats 19-9.

Centreville (5-6, 1-1) plays host to Oak Forest Academy today.

Siliman Institute girls 60, Centreville Academy 35

CENTREVILLE — While Centreville Academy’s Tori Rouse torched Silliman Institute with a game-high 24 points, she got very little help from her teammates as the Lady Tigers lost the Lady Wildcats Thursday night in an MAIS District 6-AA game.

Centreville trailed Silliman by just two points, 12-10, at the end of the first quarter. But that would be as close as the Lady Tigers would get the rest of the game. The Lady Wildcats went on a tear over the next two quarters and by the time the third quarter was done, they had a commanding 52-26 advantage.

Ashley Hurst led Silliman with 15 points while Bradleigh Brignac and Kayla Davidson had 14 points each.

The Lady Tigers (7-6, 0-2) will try to pick up their first district win of the season today at home against Oak Forest Academy.