By PATRICK JONES

The Natchez Democrat

WESSON — For the second straight year, the Jefferson County High School Lady Tigers won the MHSAA Region 7-3A Tournament championship. And it took a gutsy win its over main rival.

Sophomore point guard Kailyn Hammett would not let a shoulder injury she suffered in the third quarter keep her on the bench when her teammates needed her the most. She answered the call and scored eight of her 14 points in the fourth quarter to lead top-seeded Jefferson County to a 54-44 win over second-seeded Port Gibson Friday night at Wesson Attendance Center.

“Kailyn went down in the third quarter, but she wanted to play,” Lady Tigers head coach Flora McKnight said. “That’s so much determination and willpower. She didn’t want to let her team down. When she went back in, we were up by two points.”

The Lady Tigers overcame a couple of deficits to defeat a good Port Gibson team that made its return to Class 3A after nearly 15 years in Class 4A. The Lady Blue Waves jumped out to a 17-9 lead after one quarter of play, but the Lady Tigers outscored them 14-8 in the second quarter to go into halftime down just two points, 25-23.

“We definitely started off slow. We just kept working. Took one play at a time,” McKnight said. “They played well and came together.”

Not only was Hammett’s return to the court in the fourth quarter key for Jefferson County’s win, so was the overall play of Diamond Smith, the region’s most valuable player for the second straight year. Smith scored 17 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked five shots. Antrell Gales poured in 14 points for the Lady Tigers.

“It was just a team effort,” said McKnight, who was recently named the region’s coach of the year for the second consecutive season. “We were playing our rival, so we knew it was going to be a tough game.”

Jefferson County (24-3) will be at home for the first round of the MHSAA Class 3A South State Playoffs as it will take on Region 8-3A No. 4 seed West Marion next Monday at 7 p.m.

Jefferson County (boys) 78,

Hazlehurst 72

WESSON — The boys’ championship game of the Region 7-3A Tournament between No. 1 seed Jefferson County High School and No. 2 seed Hazlehurst High School did not disappoint.

Jefferson County got enough stops in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 78-72 victory Friday night in the region tournament’s boys’ title.

“Their motto this week was to finish,” Tigers head coach Marcus Walton said. “They grew up and decided not to be denied. It was a team effort. All praises go to God to get through the season without any serious injuries.”

The Tigers’ defense played a pivotal role in the fourth quarter as they scored 20 points while holding the Indians to 15 points.

“In the fourth quarter, we finally decided to buckle down and defend. We hadn’t done that all game,” Walton said. “In a three-minute span, we turned a three-point lead into an 11-point lead. We got a couple of turnovers. We made our free throws down the stretch.”

Christian Day led Jefferson County with a game-high 25 points. Akeem Williams wasn’t far behind with 23 points and Josh Day finished with 18 points.

“They came up big tonight. They’ve done that all season,” Walton said. “The team bonded together and sacrificed individual goals for the team goals. Everyone accepted their roles.”

Jefferson County (15-10) will be the No. 1 seed out of Region 7-3A for the first round of the MHSAA Class 3A South State Playoffs. The Tigers will play at 7 p.m. next Tuesday and will host the Region 8-3A No. 4 seed Seminary.

Wilkinson County 50, Wesson 29 (girls)

WESSON — The Wilkinson County Lady Wildcats took the home crowd out of the game early and rolled to a 50-29 win over the host Wesson Attendance Center Lady Cobras Friday afternoon in the girls’ consolation game of the MHSAA Region 7-3A Tournament.

Wilkinson County jumped out to a 15-5 lead after one quarter of play and then took a 26-8 lead over Wesson into halftime. By the end of the third quarter, they Lady Wildcats had a commanding 39-17 lead.

“They played team basketball. They played with confidence,” Lady Wildcats head coach Trimeka Gaines said. “They hustled for four quarters.”

Gadrieka Cotton finished with a game-high 16 points while Sharicka Franklin added 12 points and Alexis Parker had 10 points.

Wilkinson County (8-17) will enter the first round of the MHSAA Class 3A South State Playoffs as the No. 3 seed out of Region 7-3A and will play at the loser (and No. 2 seed) of the Region 8-3A title game between Collins and Tylertown next Monday at 7 p.m.

Wesson def. Wilkinson County (boys)

WESSON — The Wesson Attendance Center Cobras pulled off their second upset of the MHSAA Region 7-3A Tournament after they defeated the Wilkinson County Wildcats in the boys’ consolation game Friday afternoon.

No other information was available on the game and Wilkinson County head coach Julius Anderson could not be reached for comments.

Wilkinson County (16-9) will be on the road for the first round of the MHSAA Class 3A South State Playoffs. The Wildcats will play at the winner (and No. 1 seed) of the Region 8-3A championship game between West Marion and Tylertown next Tuesday at 7 p.m.