CANTON — Trinity Episcopal needed a second-half rally to defeat Sylva-Bay Academy 59-54 Tuesday afternoon in the first round of the MAIS Class AA State Tournament at Canton Academy.

Trinity Episcopal, the South No. 2 seed, had a tough time getting both shots from the field and at the free-throw line to fall in the first half and the result was a 30-25 halftime deficit to Central No. 3 seed Sylva-Bay Academy.

“We started off real slow. We missed a lot of free throws. We’re a 3-point shooting team and we missed a lot of 3-pointers,” Trinity head coach Fay Minor said. “They played us man-to-man, and that took away some of our scoring.”

Sylva-Bay Academy also played a spread man-to-man offense that kept Trinity from playing the aggressive style of defense for which it is known. Sylva-Bay put up 12 points in the first quarter and 18 more in the second.

Trinity turned up its defensive pressure in the third quarter, and that led to a flurry of Trinity lay-ups. Trinity also got their 3-pointers to fall. But even with more struggles at the free-throw line, Trinity outscored Sylva-Bay’s Lady Saints 21-13 to take a 46-43 lead.

“We moved the ball much better. We forced some turnovers and that gave us the lead late in the third quarter. Three-pointers and we got some lay-ups and that was the difference in the game,” Minor said. “We didn’t do a good job at all at the free-throw line.”

Minor noted Tali Beard, Rearnna Mayberry and Jasmine Ivory stepped up defensively in the second half, and that D’Asia Mitchell and Sloane Young hit some big shots for Trinity when the team needed them. As a team, Trinity made 11 3-pointers.

Trinity made sure that Sylva-Bay would not mount a comeback of its own with a 13-11 edge in the fourth quarter. Mitchell led the team in scoring with 20 points while Young finished with 12 points – all on 3-pointers.

“It was a slow 20 points (for Mitchell),” Minor said. “She always wants to come out and play. Her shooting was off in the first half. But she made shots when it counted. But she was 0-for-8 on free throws. Sloane shot a lot better (Tuesday) than she did the other night. During our comeback in the third quarter, her shooting was key.”

Marlee Blackwell led Sylva-Bay Academy with a game-high 22 points and Keyonna Abney added 11 points.

Trinity Episcopal (24-6) takes on North No. 1 seed Carroll Academy at 4 p.m. Thursday in a quarterfinal-round game.

“Carroll (Academy) knocked us out by three points last year. This is a payback game for us,” Minor said. “As long as our team comes out ready to play, there are not many teams that can beat us.”