FAYETTE — A back-and-forth game between the Hinds County Agricultural High School Lady Bulldogs and the Wilkinson County Lady Wildcats ended at the free-throw line.

Wilkinson County’s Toni Anthony stepped up, helping the Lady Wildcats fend off a fourth-quarter rally to defeat the Lady Bulldogs 53-52 Wednesday afternoon in the first game of the Jefferson County High School Holiday Tournament.

“It was an up-tempo game. Down the stretch Toni hit some big free throws that sealed it for us at the end of the game,” Lady Wildcats head coach Edwin White said. “I think we’ve turned the corner. We played as a team. We have a young team, but they’re a scrappy bunch.”

As for Anthony, who finished with a game-high 26 points, White said, “She has very good athletic ability. She’s starting to play really aggressive. I think she’s ready to play D-I ball.”

That scrappiness helped Wilkinson County (6-6) against a Hinds AHS team that had a much more balanced scoring attack. The Lady Wildcats led 12-11 after one quarter of play, 25-20 at halftime, and 41-33 at the end of the third quarter.

The Lady Bulldogs turned to their defense to get back in the game in the fourth quarter, but they came up short.

“We didn’t turn the ball over like we have been. We’re still having problems at the free-throw line,” White said. “Defense has been a problem. But we played good defense today.”

Jasmine Ayers was the only other Lady Wildcats player in double figures as she finished with 14 points. A. Webster scored 14 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs and D. Thomas had 11 points.

Jeff. Co. boys 84, Jackson (La.) 39

FAYETTE — Kadon Day scored a game-high 26 points as the host Tigers jumped out to a big lead and rolled to an impressive 45-point win over the Chiefs Wednesday night to round out day one of the Jefferson County High School Holiday Tournament

Jefferson County (10-8) dominated this game from the opening tip to the final buzzer.

The Tigers had a 24-11 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 43-23 lead by halftime.

The third quarter was more of the same as the Tigers outscored the Chiefs 28-11 to take a commanding 71-34 lead.

Percy Turner finished with 15 points and Trellvillion Gaines had 10 points for Jefferson County. Marquis Ferguson led Jackson (La.) with 12 points.

St. Thomas More boys 64,

Natchez High 48

LAFAYETTE, La. — Even though the Bulldogs got a game-high 19 points from Kendall Logan and 12 points from Dwong Hughes, it was not enough as they lost to the host Cougars Wednesday night in the first round of the Sunkist Shootout.

The second quarter was the turning point of the game as St. Thomas More outscored Natchez High 18-4 to turn a 17-14 deficit after one quarter of play into a 32-21 lead at halftime.

The Bulldogs cut the Cougars’ lead to eight points by the end of the third period, but the Cougars answered with a 21-point fourth quarter to put the game away.

Drewbe Saab led St. Thomas More with 11 points and Jason Fatheree had 10 points.

Jeff. Co. girls 41, Jackson (La.) 24

FAYETTE — Erin Wells and Shakeitha Queen combined to score 31 points as the Lady Tigers not only got their third win of the season, but they did so in impressive fashion Wednesday night at the Jefferson County High School Holiday Tournament.

Wells led all scorers with 18 points and Queen added 13 points. Jefferson County took the lead at the end of a low-scoring first quarter 8-4. The Lady Tigers then pulled away with an 11-2 advantage in the second quarter for a 19-6 halftime lead. They continued their pressure on the Lady Chiefs in the third quarter, which led to a 13-6 edge and a 32-9 lead. Phylica Whitley led Jackson (La.) with 15 points and Pylea White chipped in with six points.

Natchez girls 67, Richwood (La.) 56

STERLINGTON, La. — Thanks to Alia Frank’s 36 points and a big first quarter, the Lady Bulldogs defeated the Lady Rams Wednesday night at the Sterlington Holiday Hoops.

Natchez High (15-0) got off to a good start and led Richwood 22-9 at the end of the first quarter. And that was a good thing because the Lady Rams cut into the Lady Bulldogs’ lead over the next two quarters and trailed by just seven points by the end of the third quarter.

But the Lady Bulldogs responded with a 19-15 advantage in the fourth quarter to end the Lady Rams’ rally attempt. Tori Paxton scored 13 points and Koesha Bradley added 11 points for the Lady Bulldogs. J. Blockor led Richwood with 22 points and J. Gords had 17 points. The Lady Bulldogs will look to remain undefeated this season when they take on Oak Grove (La.) today at 7 p.m.

Hinds AHS boys 63, Wilkinson Co. 48

FAYETTE — The good news for Wilkinson County was that it had a 10-8 lead over Hinds AHS at the end of the first quarter. The bad news was that would be the last lead of the game for the Wildcats.

The Bulldogs got over their sluggish start by outscoring the Wildcats 24-11 in the second quarter to take a 32-21 halftime lead en route to a 15-point win Wednesday afternoon at the Jefferson County High School Holiday Tournament.

K. Stewart led Hinds AHS with 18 points while K. Washington had 15 points and J. Wright chipped in with 14 points. Kenny Harden led Wilkinson County with a game-high 22 points, but Corey Anthony was held to just eight points.