Fayette — Jefferson County High School is headed back to Jackson.

Behind the trio of Diamond Smith, Antrell Gales and Kailyn Hammett, the Lady Tigers stormed past Southeast Lauderdale High School, winning 59-35 Friday night in MHSAA Class 3A girls second-round playoff action.

“Southeast is a great team, and they have some good players,” Jefferson County coach Flora McKnight said. “They have high basketball I.Q., but we practiced well on their press, and we didn’t make a lot of turnovers, and that was our game.”

Smith finished with 22 points, while Gales and Hammett had 20 and nine points, respectively.

“I dream (about Jackson) every day when I’m at home,” Hammett said.

Jefferson County fell to Belmont High School 68-54 in the semifinals last year.

“It feels good, going back for the second-straight year,” Gales said.

The 6-foot-1 Gales and the 6-foot-3 Smith made their presence felt inside as they combined to finish with 25 points and seven rebounds.

“We’re just trying to send the seniors out on the right note,” said Gales, who is a sophomore. “We want to get our seniors a ring.”

Jefferson County (25-3) utilized a strong offensive showing to earn a win in its playoff opener — scoring 78 points — but on Friday night, its defense led the charge. JCHS held Southeast to seven points in each of the first two periods.

Perhaps the turning point in the game came in the second quarter when Jefferson County outscored Southeast Lauderdale 20-7 to take a 27-14 halftime advantage. The rally was sparked by a 10-0 run in the early portion of the quarter.

“If we stay together as a team and push the opponents to their weakness and play into our strengths, then we’ll be alright,” Hammett said.

The sophomore point guard added six assists to go along with one steal and one rebound.

“I’m just blessed to have (Gales, Hammet and Smith),” McKnight said. “I’m humbled to have them, because they are such hard-working young ladies. Diamond and Antrell are the 1-2 punch, and Kailynn doesn’t mind giving it to them.”

Timara Trussell led Southeast with 12 points, while Kimesha Hopson had eight and Sadajae Anthony finished with seven points.

Jefferson County will play Independence High School March 5 at Jackson State University.

“The sky is the limit,” McKnight said. “We can get that gold ball if we play like we did (Friday). We played together, we made the extra pass, and there wasn’t any selfishness out there. We played team ball. They showed joy. When you show joy, you can play with excitement.”