RAYMOND — Mary Miller Ratcliff scored a game-high 21 points and Kaitlen Emfinger had 19 points as the Tensas Academy Lady Chiefs upset the Newton County Academy Lady Generals 61-52 Thursday afternoon at the MPSA Class A South State Tournament at Central Hinds Academy.

“They got off to a really good start. They made four of their first five shots and took the lead. Then we got a couple of steals and a couple of easy baskets to get back in the game,” Lady Chiefs head coach Allen Crigler said.

Tensas Academy (19-11), the No. 4 seed out of District 6-A, played stifling defense in the third quarter to take control of the game en route to the stunning win over the District 4-A champion.

“They got tired in the third quarter. We shut them down,” Crigler said.

Tensas Academy will take on Riverdale Academy in the girls’ semifinals today at 2:15 p.m.

Centreville 56, Columbia Academy 45

COLUMBIA — Amber Addington scored a career-high 36 points to lead the Lady Tigers to the girls’ semifinals of the MPSA Class AA South State Tournament after they defeated the host Lady Cougars Thursday night.

Centreville (12-16), the No. 2 seed from District 5-AA, struggled offensively in the first quarter. The Lady Tigers trailed Columbia Academy, the No. 2 seed out of District 4-AA, 7-4 at the end of that quarter and still trailed by three points at halftime.

But the Lady Tigers turned to the sharp-shooting Addington as well as Erin Gaulden and a tenacious defense to help them take the lead for good late in the third quarter. Then they put the game away with a 20-11 advantage in the fourth quarter. Gaulden finished with 13 points.

Centreville will take on District 3-AA champion Prairie View in the girls’ semifinals today at 2:15 p.m.

West Lincoln 62, Cathedral 38

BOGUE CHITTO — With the exception of the second quarter, West Lincoln didn’t play as well as it has lately but it was enough to defeat Cathedral Thursday afternoon in the girls’ semifinals of the Region 8-1A Tournament.

“We hung with them for three quarters. We had a bad second quarter,” Lady Green Wave head coach Kathy Graning said. “We let them shoot way too many free throws. We missed too many shots under the goal.”

West Lincoln, the No. 2 seed, made 26 of 28 free throws while Cathedral (13-16), the No. 3 seed, was just eight of 18 from the line. The Lady Bears outscored the Lady Green Wave 24-10 in the second quarter to take a 35-21 halftime lead.

Talashia Fells led West Lincoln with 15 points. Kristian Dobard scored a game-high 18 points for Cathedral, which will take on the loser of the Dexter-Bogue Chitto game in the third-place game today at 4 p.m.

South Pike 93, Jefferson County 37

WOODVILLE — After a close first quarter, the Lady Eagles proved why they are deserving of their No. 3 ranking in Class 3A as they defeated the Lady Tigers Thursday afternoon in the girls’ semifinals of the Region 7-3A Tournament at Wilkinson County.

South Pike, the No. 1 seed, led Jefferson County by just six points at the end of the first quarter. But any thoughts of an upset by the Lady Tigers quickly ended when the Lady Eagles outscored them 26-9 in the second quarter and 31-5 in the third quarter.

South Pike was led by M. Anderson with 17 points and K. Addison with 16 points. The Lady Eagles will take on Franklin County in the girls’ championship game today at 7 p.m. Charlita White finished with 19 points for Jefferson County, which will take on Amite County in the third-place game today at 4 p.m.

Franklin County 65, Amite County 29

WOODVILLE — The Lady Dawgs made sure that they would not be the second straight highly-seeded team to lose to Amite County as they easily defeated the Lady Trojans in the girls’ semifinals of the Region 7-3A Tournament.

Franklin County, the No. 3 seed, controlled the action on both ends of the court from the opening tip to the final buzzer. Amite County, the No. 7 seed, scored no more than eight points in any of the four quarters.

Shareka Hunt led the Lady Dawgs with 16 points and Charlesia Houston scored 10 points. The Lady Trojans were led by C. Patterson with 15 points and D. Chandler with nine points.