RYSTAL SPRINGS — For three quarters, the Franklin County Lady Bulldogs played like a team that could make a long run through the MHSAA Class 3A Girls’ South State Tournament.

Unfortunately for Franklin County, that ended up not being the case. Having entered halftime with a four-point lead, the Lady Bulldogs went ice cold in the third quarter and wound up losing to the Morton Lady Panthers 37-33 Thursday afternoon in a quarterfinal round game.

After the first quarter ended in an 11-11 score, Franklin County scored 12 points while holding Morton to eight points to take a 23-19 lead at the break. However, the Lady Bulldogs had a real hard time getting shots to fall in the third quarter and that’s when the momentum swung in the Lady Panthers’ favor. Morton outscored Franklin County 8-2 in that quarter for a 27-25 lead and put an end to the Lady Bulldogs’ season with a 10-8 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Tadayla Hunt finished with 11 points and Brianta O’Quinn added eight points for Franklin County, which finished with a 15-13 overall record.

Morton boys 60, Jefferson County 38

CAMDEN — Both Morton High School and Jefferson County High School scored 12 points in three different quarters in their MHSAA Class 3A Boys’ South State Tournament quarterfinal round game Thursday night at Velma Jackson High School.

But a bad second quarter for Jefferson County and an offensive explosion by Morton in the fourth quarter were the key factors in the Panthers’ 60-38 win, which ended the season for the Tigers.

Jefferson County scored just two points in the second quarter and trailed 24-14 at halftime. The Tigers were still down by 10 points, 36-26, at the end of the third quarter before Morton went on a tear in the fourth. The Panthers outscored the Tigers 22-12 for the blowout win.

Ry’Yale Brown led the Division 7-3A champion Tigers with 10 points and Christian Day had eight points. Morton, the Division 6-3A No. 3 seed, was led by Dee Dee Bowie with a game-high 17 points and Dart Harris had 14 points.

Velma Jackson boys 80, Wilkinson County 68

CAMDEN — The tournament host and Division 6-3A champion Velma Jackson Falcons got past the Division 7-3A No. 3 seed Wilkinson County Wildcats 80-68 Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the MHSAA Class 3A Boys’ South State Tournament.

No other information on the game was available. Wilkinson County finished with a 14-13 overall record.