WOODVILLE — After a big third quarter gave Wilkinson County a 10-point lead, the Wildcats almost saw that lead and their season come to an end as St. Andrews Episcopal was on the comeback trail.

Yet Wilkinson County, the Region 7-3A No. 2 seed, managed to hang on for a hard-fought 67-66 win over the Saints Tuesday night in the first round of the MHSAA Class 3A South State Playoffs. The victory allowed the Wildcats to advance to the Class 3A South State Tournament, which will be held at Forest High School.

Trae McKenzie led Wilkinson County with 18 points while Philip Fountain had 17 points and Charles Bell contributed with 15 points.

St. Andrews, the Region 6-3A No. 3 seed, didn’t seem too phased about playing on the road as the Saints gave Wilkinson County all it could handle. The first half was indicative of that as the first quarter ended in the Wildcats having a 14-12 lead and at halftime they were still only up two at 30-28.

The third quarter proved to be the big factor for Wilkinson County as it outscored St. Andrews 24-16 for a 54-44 lead. But the Saints wouldn’t go away quietly as they scored 22 points to the Wildcats’ 13 points. Unfortunately for the Saints, time ran out on their rally and their season.

 

St. Andrews Episcopal was led by Dallas Prater with 22 points and Parks Douglas chipped in with 15 points.

Wilkinson County (17-12) will take on the winner of the Newton/Pass Christian game at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

Morton 72, Jefferson County 65

MORTON — Jarmel Anderson led Jefferson County with 22 points and Ry’Ale Brown had 15 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Tigers saw their season come to an end Tuesday night at the hands of the Morton Panthers in an MHSAA Class 3A South State first round game.

Morton jumped out to a 19-12 lead over Jefferson County after one quarter of play, but the Tigers bounced back by outscoring the Panthers 22-14 in the second quarter for a 34-33 halftime lead. But the Panthers retook the momentum in the third quarter en route to a 51-44 advantage.

After scoring just 10 points in that third quarter, the Tigers responded with 21 points in the fourth quarter. However, their defense let them down as they allowed Morton to score 21 points to secure the seven-point victory.

Monte Bowie led Morton, the No. 2 seed from Region 6-3A, with a game-high 26 points and Jimmy Blackwell added 16 points.

Jefferson County, the No. 3 seed out of Region 7-3A, finished its season with a 19-12 record.

Block 45, Northwood-Lena 44

LENA, La. — It’s unusual for the top two teams from the same district to compete in a first-round playoff game. But that’s exactly what happened Tuesday night when District 4-1A champion Northwood-Lena hosted Block, the district’s runner-up, in the bi-regional round of the LHSAA Class 1A Playoffs.

In the two regular-season meetings, the Gators defeated the Bears by four and three points, respectively. But on this night, the third time was the charm for No. 22 seed Block as it upset No. 11 seed Northwood-Lena to advance to the regional round.

In the first quarter, it didn’t look like Block was going to have much of a chance of even staying within striking distance of Northwood-Lena after scoring just four points and trailing by 11 points at the end of the quarter.

However, the Bears got back in the game thanks in large part to its defense. They outscored the Gators 15-7 in the second quarter to go into halftime down just three points at 22-19. Then Block cut the lead to two points, 34-32, at the end of the third quarter.

The Bears completed their amazing and stunning comeback by outscoring the Gators 13-10 in the fourth quarter. Dorian Bowman, Jahmal Macklin and A.J. Barber led the Bears with 10 points each.

Block (12-15) will take on the winner of the Ridgewood/Delhi game on Friday.

Florien 92, Monterey 48

FLORIEN, La. — The Monterey Wolves saw their season come to an end Tuesday night as they lost to the Florien Blackcats in the bi-district round of the LHSAA Class B Playoffs. No other information on the game was available.