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Vidalia’s Ray J. Ransom, shoots the ball during the boys basketball game against Sicily Island. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

Vidalia High School’s Jacquan Wilson Looks to shoot the ball while Sicily Island’s Keonte Dunbar blocks during the boy’s basketball game. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

Sicily Island’s Tyreke Tolliver, jumps for a rebound Tuesday during the boys basketball game in Vidalia. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

Sicily Island’s Ricky Tolliver, shoots the ball Tuesday during the boys basketball game in Vidalia. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

Kavarius Whitehead shoots the ball Saturday during the boys basketball game at Delta Charter in Ferriday. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

Kavarius Whitehead shoots the ball Saturday during the boys basketball game at Delta Charter in Ferriday. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

Kavarius Whitehead shoots the ball Saturday during the boys basketball game at Delta Charter in Ferriday. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

Kavarius Whitehead runs the ball to the hoop Saturday during the boys basketball game at Delta Charter in Ferriday. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

VIDALIA — Tyreke Tolliver led Sicily Island High School with 16 points and Keonte Dunbar added 12 points as the Tigers defeated the Vidalia High School Vikings 52-40 Tuesday night.

The game was tied at 11-11 at the end of the first quarter before Sicily Island pulled away from Vidalia over the next two quarters. The Tigers outscored the Vikings 15-9 in the second quarter and 15-7 in the third quarter for a 41-27 lead.

“A lot of second-chance points. They were shooting and getting offensive rebounds or we were missing and were slow getting back on fast breaks,” Vidalia head coach Robert Sanders said.

DeMikal McCoy led the Vikings with 16 points, but he was the only player for Vidalia to score in double figures. RayJay Ransom finished with seven points and Jaquan Wilson had six points.

Sanders added that his team was out-hustled by Sicily Island on both ends of the court for most of the game. He also said that a win would not have helped the Vikings as far as playoff seeding is concerned.

“Even if we had won our last two games, we would have been on the road,” Sanders said.

Vidalia (13-15) will find out exactly where it will be seeded and who its first-round opponent will be when the brackets for the LHSAA Class 2A Playoffs are released on Monday, Feb. 18.

Forest Hill boys 57,

Natchez High 52 (OT)

JACKSON — Natchez High School gave Forest Hill High School quite a scare in the first round of the MHSAA Region 6-5A Tournament, but the No. 1 seed Patriots prevailed in overtime, defeating the No. 4 seed Bulldogs 57-52 Tuesday night.

Forest Hill looked like it was on its way to a double-digit win after taking a 36-26 lead at the end of the third quarter. But Natchez High fought back, using its defense to outscore the Patriots 14-4 in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime tied at 40-all.

“We had a couple of mishaps, a couple of turnovers midway through the third quarter. Other than that, we played good defense,” Bulldogs head coach David Haywood said. “We had the ball with 10 second left down by two. I called a timeout. T.J. (Credit) was able to drive the basket and send it into overtime with a lay-up.”

The Patriots took advantage of a few miscues by Natchez High early in the overtime period and ended up outscoring the Bulldogs 17-12.

“Unfortunately, in overtime our first two possessions were turnovers that led to points for them. That hurt us,” Haywood said.

Jakel Barnes led the Bulldogs with 13 points while Tyreeq Washington had 11 points and James Singleton finished with 10 points.

Keondre Montgomery led the Patriots with a game-high 27 points and Tre’Vion Bass added 16 points.

Natchez High (12-12) will take on the loser of the other boys’ first-round game between No. 3 seed Wingfield High School and No. 2 seed Brookhaven High School in the consolation game Friday at 5:30 p.m.

Brookhaven High girls 67,

Natchez High 30

JACKSON — Silenttianna Collins led Brookhaven High School with a game-high 20 points and Ayanna Mcnairy contributed with 11 points as the Lady Panthers cruised to a 67-30 win over the Natchez High School Lady Bulldogs Tuesday night in the first round of the MHSAA Region 6-5A Tournament at Wingfield High School.

Brookhaven, the No. 1 seed, controlled the action from the opening tip and never allowed No. 4 seed to get back in the game. The Lady Panthers jumped out to a 16-4 lead after one quarter of play and then outscored the Lady Bulldogs 23-9 in the second quarter for a 39-13 lead at intermission.

Kelsey McNeal led the Lady Bulldogs with 11 points and Tremecia Proby chipped in with eight points.

Natchez High (11-16) will take on No. 3 seed and tournament host Wingfield High School on Friday at 4 p.m. in the girls’ consolation game. The Lady Falcons lost to No. 2 seed Forest Hill High School in the other girls’ first-round match-up.

Cathedral girls 34,

Laurel Christian School 31

COLUMBIA — Baylee Graning led Cathedral High School with a game-high 16 points as the Lady Green Wave defeated the Laurel Christian School Lady Lions 34-31 Tuesday night in the first round of the MAIS Class AAA South State Tournament at Columbia Academy.

District 5 No. 3 seed Cathedral had a strong first half and led District 4 No. 4 seed Laurel Christian 26-19 at halftime. Then the Lady Green Wave had to hang on despite scoring just four points in both the third and fourth quarters. They got a lot of unexpected help from the Lady Lions, who scored just three points in the fourth quarter.

Cathedral (7-21) will take on District 3 No. 1 seed Central Hinds Academy at 4 p.m. Thursday in the girls’ quarterfinals.

Park Place Christian

Academy boys 54, Cathedral 34

COLUMBIA — The Cathedral High School Green Wave saw its season come to an end Tuesday afternoon after taking a 54-34 defeat to the Park Place Christian Academy Crusaders in the first round of the MAIS Class AAA South State Tournament at Columbia Academy.

Park Place Christian, the District 3 No. 4 seed, led District 5 No. 4 seed Cathedral 11-6 after one quarter of play before outscoring the Green Wave 16-9 in the second quarter for a 27-15 halftime. The Crusaders continued to add to their lead in the second half.

J.T. Harris led Cathedral with nine points and Sam Mosby had eight points. The Green Wave finished with an overall record of 6-21.

Laurel Christian School boys 58,

ACCS 39

COLUMBIA — Cade Suber led all scorers with 18 points and Brandon Thompson had 12 points to lead the Laurel Christian School Lions to a 58-39 win over the Adams County Christian School Rebels Tuesday night in the first round of the MAIS Class AAA South State Tournament at Columbia Academy.

Leading just 15-14 after one quarter of play, District 4 No. 4 seed Laurel Christian turned to its defense in the second quarter and its offense in the third quarter to pull away from District 5 No. 3 seed ACCS.

The Lions held the Rebels to just seven points in the second quarter and went into halftime with a 25-21 lead. Then they scored 20 points in the third quarter for a 45-31 advantage.

Andrew Merriett led the Rebels with 12 points and Jonathan Ratcliff had seven points. ACCS finished its season with an overall record of 3-20.

Jefferson County girls 59,

Wilkinson County 43

HAZLEHURST — Iyrnoica Barnes led Jefferson County High School with a game-high 22 points as the fifth-seeded Lady Tigers defeated the fourth-seeded Wilkinson County High School Lady Wildcats 59-43 Tuesday night in the first round of the MHSAA Region 7-3A Tournament.

Jefferson County got off to a good start and led Wilkinson County 13-6 after one quarter of play, but the Lady Wildcats responded with an 18-13 advantage in the second quarter to go into halftime down just two points, 26-24.

But the Lady Tigers took control of the game in the second half. They outscored the Lady Wildcats 15-7 in the third quarter and 18-12 in the fourth quarter.

Akira Doss scored 14 points and Brittany Goldsberry had 13 points for the Lady Tigers. Chelbie Dorsey led the Lady Wildcats with 11 points, but leading scorer Deointra Wyatt was held to just eight points.

Wilkinson County ended up with a final overall record of 5-15. Jefferson County (no record given) will take on No. 1 seed and tournament host Hazlehurst High School in a semifinal-round game on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Centreville Academy girls 55,

Newton County Academy 37

BROOKHAVEN — The Centreville Academy Lady Tigers, the District 4 No. 2 seed, defeated the Newton County Academy Lady Generals, the District 3 No. 3 seed, 55-37 Tuesday afternoon in the first round of the MAIS Class AA South State Tournament at Brookhaven Academy.

No other information on the game was available. Centreville Academy (no record given) will take on District 5 No. 1 seed Glenbrook School in the girls’ quarterfinals at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Wilkinson County boys def.

Jefferson County

HAZLEHURST — The fifth-seeded Wilkinson County High School Wildcats defeated the fourth-seeded Jefferson County High School Tigers Tuesday night in the first round of the MHSAA Region 7-3A Tournament at Hazlehurst High School.

No other information on the game was available. Wilkinson County (no record given) will take on tournament host and No. 1 seed Hazlehurst High School at 8:30 p.m. Thursday in the boys’ semifinals.

Delta Charter boys 66,

Mangham 64 (OT)

FERRIDAY — The Delta Charter School Storm ended its regular season with a 66-64 overtime win over the Mangham High School Dragons Tuesday afternoon. No other information on the game was available.

Delta Charter (8-22) will learn its postseason fate next Monday afternoon when the brackets for the LHSAA Class 1A Playoffs are released.

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