LIBERTY — Even though Amite County had a surprising four-point lead at halftime over Franklin County, it wasn’t because of good defense but rather because the shots were not falling for the Lady Bulldogs.

But that all changed in the third quarter as Erica Jenkins made three 3-pointers and the Lady Bulldogs, ranked No. 4 in the latest Clarion-Ledger Class 3A girls poll, went on to defeat the Lady Trojans 55-45 Friday night to remain undefeated in Region 7-3A.

“We played well the first half. We had good looks. We just couldn’t get the shots to go in,” Lady Bulldogs head coach Charles Moore said. “The third quarter it all came together for us. We picked up the pressure and the shots started falling.”

With Franklin County having its offensive woes in the first half, Amite County led 13-11 after one quarter of play and 24-20 at the half. But Jenkins’ outside shooting was keep in the Lady Bulldogs scoring 19 points while their defense held the Lady Trojans to just six points in the game-changing third quarter.

Then in the fourth quarter, Franklin County (11-2, 3-0) made a couple of key three-pointers and made its free throws in the closing minutes.

“Once we got up nine in the fourth quarter, we maintained a nine- or 10-point lead,” Moore said.

Jenkins and Vintrice Briggs led Franklin County with 13 points each and Leondra Shaw had 10 points. Cikia Patterson led Amite County with a game-high 18 points and Tydeshaia Pool had 16 points.

Monterey 42, Harrisonburg 35

HARRISONBURG, La. — The Harrisonburg Lady Bulldogs had their way with the Monterey Lady Wolves for over a decade. Even when Monterey had a good team five years ago, the one team outside of its district it could not beat was Harrisonburg.

But on Friday night, Monterey may have started to turned this long-time rivalry back in its favor as the Lady Wolves defeated the Lady Bulldogs in a key District 3-B game for both teams.

Monterey took the lead for good late in the second quarter en route to an 18-14 halftime lead and continued to slowly build on its lead in the second half, despite Harrisonburg’s best effort to get back in the game in the third quarter.

Brooke Baker scored nine points while Ellen Bairnsfather and Jessica McNeil had eight points apiece to lead the Lady Wolves, who improved to 18-6 overall and 1-1 in district play. Allison Duncan finished with a game-high 10 points and Erica Cater added eight points for the Lady Bulldogs, who fell to 12-9 overall and 0-2 in district play.

Tallulah Academy 43, Trinity Episcopal 39

NATCHEZ — In one of the most unusual varsity girls game played on Trinity Episcopal’s home court in several years, the Lady Saints were upset by the Tallulah Academy Lady Trojans Friday night in an MAIS District 6-A game.

Trinity Episcopal, ranked No. 5 in Class A and coming off a hard-fought loss at Class AA Hillcrest Christian 24 hours earlier, had a golden opportunity to remain undefeated in its district and pull away from the pack in the process.

The problem was the Lady Saints missed several shots from point-blank range in the second half and that allowed Tallulah Academy to hang around. The Lady Trojans outscored the Lady Saints 14-10 in the third quarter. But what was even worse was that the Lady Saints scored just two points in the fourth quarter while the Lady Trojans scored eight points for what was truly an unexpected win for the visiting team.

Bethany Ogden led Trinity Episcopal (15-6, 4-1) with 17 points and Madelyn Cross had 14 points. Tallulah Academy was led by Katie Book with a game-high 19 points and Megan Givens with 13 points.

Lake Providence 53, Ferriday 38

LAKE PROVIDENCE, La. — With four players scoring in double figures, the Lake Providence Lady Panthers overcame an early deficit to defeat the Ferriday Lady Trojans in District 2-2A action.

Joslyn Allen led Lake Providence with 12 points while Porsha Gaskew and Larrimi Williams each had 11 points and Da’Shoneca Lee chipped in with 10 points. In addition to the balanced scoring, the Lady Panthers did a good job defensively on Ferriday’s Chante Poole, who was held to just eight points on the night.

Ferriday led 15-12 at the end of the first quarter and managed to keep a three-point lead at halftime. But the second half belonged to Lake Providence as it put up 33 points over the final 16 minutes to just 15 for the Lady Trojans.

Deonka Birdon led the Lady Trojans (12-8, 1-1) with 13 points and T’Keyah Fletcher added nine points.

Avoyelles 52, Vidalia 27

MOREAUVILLE, La. — Courtney Magee finished with a game-high 16 points and Keonta Newsome scored 10 points to lead the Avoyelles Lady Mustangs to a 25-point win over the still-winless Vidalia Lady Vikings Friday night in District 3-3A action.

Avoyelles dominated Vidalia on both ends of the court throughout the first half en route to a commanding 37-6 halftime lead. Defense had a lot to do with that as the Lady Mustangs forced the Lady Vikings into numerous turnovers and forced shots.

Christina Moore led Vidalia with 14 points and Gabby Wagoner had seven points.