MERIDIAN &8212; Just when things really started clicking for Franklin County&8217;s Lady Bulldogs, they had sort of a relapse.

It was kind of like the first quarter all over again.

The Lady Bulldogs tied it up with Hazlehurst at 55 with 1:07 left, but from there they couldn&8217;t get shots to fall and turned it over late.

The Lady Indians converted at the foul line for a 61-55 win over Franklin County in the Class 3A South State third-place game.

Hazlehurst advances to the state tournament next week. Franklin ended the season at 22-3.

&8220;We dug a hole in the first quarter,&8221; FC head coach Charles Moore said. &8220;It hurts to lose, but we had a real good run. These girls did a great job. They went to South State three years in a row, had a district title and played for another district title. They&8217;ve done a great job in rebuilding the program.&8221;

Hazlehurst jumped out to an 18-9 lead at the end of one after shots woudn&8217;t fall for the Lady Bulldogs. But from there they chipped away, trimming the deficit to 29-23 at half and 42-38 heading into the fourth quarter.

Franklin County hit four 3-pointers &8212; two from Victoria Hunt &8212; to climb back in it. Hunt led all scorers with 26 points, but the struggles were inside.

&8220;We let them get some easy buckets and missed some easy shots,&8221; Moore said. &8220;From there we played with them. We worked so hard to get back in it, but we couldn&8217;t close it out. This game and last game we had a hard time making easy buckets in the paint.&8221;