FAYETTE — Antrell Gales and Diamond Smith helped Jefferson County High School overcome a slow start as the Lady Tigers defeated the Forest High School Lady Bearcats 49-41 Friday night in the second round of the MHSAA Class 3A South State Playoffs.

Jefferson County, playing its second playoff game in as many nights after its first-round game was postponed twice due to this week’s winter storms, looked sluggish in the first quarter and trailed Forest 16-10 at the end of the quarter.

“It was a hard-fought game. Both teams wanted to play,” Lady Tigers head coach Flora McKnight said. “They played on both ends. We got behind by eight in the second quarter. We didn’t panic. We stayed patient.”

But from the second quarter on, the Lady Tigers took control of the action. They outscored the Lady Bearcats 16-10 in the second quarter to make it a 26-26 game at halftime.

Then the defense of Jefferson County stepped up big time in the second half, holding Forest to eight points in the third quarter and seven points in the fourth quarter. Gales led all scorers with 18 points and Smith contributed with 14 points.

“The third quarter, they did it on the defensive end. There wasn’t a lot of scoring. Whatever the defense gave us, we took it,” McKnight said. “This was the only team that had size besides Natchez High. They had one player who’s 6-3.”

McKnight said Gales and Smith “played big” as well as Rachel Shelvy, who finished with nine points. She also said that Kailyn Hammett and ReKeijah Williams both made good decisions.

“I can’t say enough about them on both ends. They played like division champions. Diamond played like an MVP,” McKnight said. “It was just a great game. It was just fantastic.”

Shantel Adams led the Lady Bearcats with 12 points and Nautica Moore had 11 points.

Next up for Jefferson County (21-8) is the quarterfinals of the MHSAA Class 3A State Tournament at Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.