By TAYLOR DENMAN

The Natchez Democrat

FAYETTE — Jefferson County High School forward Diamond Smith stole a pass at half court with under three minutes left in the game.

She then took the ball coast-to-coast and finished with a layup at the other end of the court over an undersized defender, no match for the 6-foot-3 forward’s strength.

The layup capped off a 25-point night for the senior guard in her final regular-season home game at Jefferson County, and the Lady Tigers finished the season with a 54-39 win over Franklin County.

“It’s good to see that we finished strong for our seniors — sent them out on a good note,” coach Flora McKnight said.

Jefferson County enters Monday’s district tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Region 7-3A district tournament after 10-0 season in region play.

“It wasn’t easy,” McKnight said. “It’s hard to go through this (region) undefeated. When (players) were hurt, they played. When they were sick, they played. They showed up every night.”

Jefferson County jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, outscoring Franklin County 15-3.

Franklin County coach Ricky O’Quinn said the slow start for his young team was detrimental to the outcome, as they were unable to close the gap later in the game when the Lady Tigers went on a few scoring runs.

“That’s not our style of play, pushing the ball up and down,” O’Quinn said. “We had to, because we were down so much, and it led to a bunch of turnovers. Against that team, you can’t do that.”

For the Lady Tigers, Antrell Gales finished with a double-double, 14 points and 14 rebounds. Smith made her presence felt on the boards with nine rebounds and seven blocks.

The interior play of Jefferson County has been the backbone of McKnight’s squad all season. But McKnight said what can be overlooked is the play from her guards. Kailyn Hammett put up seven points of her own and assisted on six baskets.

“I can’t say enough about my point guard,” McKnight said. “Kailyn doesn’t get the publicity she should, but people don’t realize they get the passes from her. She distributes the ball like a quarterback.”

The bright spot in Franklin County’s play was from another guard, the Lady Bulldogs’ sophomore Autumn Covington.

O’Quinn said Covington is a bright spot on his young team, providing valuable minutes as an impressionable underclassman.

“We’re going to build on this and keep getting better for the district tournament,” O’Quinn said.

Jefferson County will receive a bye in the first round of the district tournament, which begins Feb. 15. The top four teams in the tournament will be seeded for the state tournament, starting on Feb. 22.

Jefferson County boys 63, Franklin County 54

Jefferson County boys basketball will enter the post season play fresh off a win over region rival Franklin County.

The Region 7-3A No. 1 seed topped the No. 6 seed Franklin County 63-54, and the single-digit margin is something Jefferson County coach Marcus Walton is wary of as his team tries to run the table as the tournament favorite.

“As you saw (Friday), Franklin County will go in as No. 6 and we’ll go in No. 1, and there is not much difference between us,” Walton said.

With the win on Friday night, Walton and his squad can check off one key goal he set for his team this season.

“We try to win all our games at home and at least three on the road, it’s very important,” Walton said. “Because on Tuesday night, two teams are going to be at home.”

The Tigers were led by Akeem Williams’ 19 points and Josh Day’s 14 points.

Jefferson County’s small, guard-oriented team provides him flexibility in his lineups and allows his team to switch quickly on defense.

“We’re an up tempo, defense first team,” Walton said. “We like our defense to generate our offense.”

For Franklin County, whose 36 second-half points came too late after an 18-point first half, O’Quinn said his team’s shot selection held them back.

“Foul trouble in the first half got us out of sync,” O’ Quinn said. “We were playing from behind the whole game. We missed a lot of free throws in the first half, so when we were down 13, we could have been down three.”