CRYSTAL SPRINGS &045; Finally things may be crystal clear to the Wilkinson County Lady Wildcats.

Long a team that’s been told how good they are by their coach, the Lady Wildcats rose to the occasion Monday to down a good Crystal Springs team 56-53 to advance to the Class 3A South State tournament at Choctaw Central.

The Lady Wildcats, who had their ups and downs this season and came in as the No. 3 team out of Region 7, got a couple big plays late in the game to complement a defensive effort that proved big in the win.

&uot;That’s one of the best-played games we played this year,&uot; WC head coach Edwin White said. &uot;We played with a lot of heart and intensity. I’m proud of the girls. They gave everything they had and left everything on the court. That’s what I’ve been asking for all year, and it finally dawned on them. They’ve got a little confidence now, and I think they’re ready to go.&uot;

The Lady Tigers made a push in the second half after Wilkinson County took a 32-21 lead at the break. The score wound up tied at 46 with about two minutes left to play before Crystal Springs came down and hit a 3-pointer to take the lead.

The Lady Wildcats, who shifted to a spread offense against Crystal Springs’ man-to-man defense, got a three-point play from Ashley Dennis to tie it back up at 49 with 1:27 left. Crystal Springs answered when it sent a player to the line to shoot two free throws, but just the second one went in to take a 50-49 lead.

The Lady Wildcats stuck with the spread and got a three-point play from Latasha Williams to take a 53-50 lead. Wilkinson got a stop on the other end, and Williams converted another three-point play for the six-point lead.

Crystal Springs got a 3-pointer with nine seconds left, but Wilkinson in-bounded the ball and ran out the clock.

&uot;It was a close game the whole way,&uot; White said. &uot;That was probably the best outside shooting teams I’ve seen. They can shoot the 3. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. But we stopped their two main scorers. We played a 3-2 zone, packed it in and kept it tight. We kept their two best scorers from penetrating.

Williams led all scorers with 25 points. Caressa Tillman led Crystal Springs with 12.

Franklin County 64, Magee 60

MAGEE &045; The Lady Bulldogs turned up the pressure in the second half and knocked off region champion Magee to advance to the South State tournament to play host Choctaw Central.

Trailing 29-26 at halftime, Franklin County stretched its defense out and began to reap the benefits. The Lady Bulldogs held a 21-16 edge in the third quarter to lead 47-45 heading into the fourth quarter.

Then their 17-15 edge in the fourth put the game away. Shalenia Wilcher hit all three of her free throws in the final minute to close it out.

&uot;They ran a zone on us, and we were able to penetrate the middle,&uot; Franklin head coach Charles Moore said. &uot;We got some good looks at the free throw line. In the third quarter we extended our half-court pressure to a full-court press, got some key turnovers and got the lead. From there we just played good basketball.&uot;

Victoria Hunt led Franklin County with 22 points.