BROOKHAVEN — Trailing by 11 points after three quarters of play and with their season on the line, the Centreville Academy Lady Tigers needed a spark and better defense to defeat Manchester Academy.

That spark was Savannah Hailey, who scored 15 of her game-high 31 points in the final eight minutes as South No. 2 seed Centreville Academy rallied to defeat the Lady Mavericks 52-50 Tuesday afternoon in the first round of the 2018 MAIS Class AA State Tournament at Brookhaven Academy.

“We’re young and really unsure about ourselves. But it was a big win for us. And we’re one win away from playing for a state championship,” Lady Tigers head coach Russell Cruise said.

That youth showed in the first half as North No. 3 seed Manchester Academy jumped out to a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was much closer, but the Lady Mavericks managed to outscore the Lady Tigers 9-8 to take a 23-15 lead into halftime.

“First half, we just came out sluggish — couldn’t make any shots. It was just one of those nights where we played hard, but we had nothing to show for it,” Cruise said. “Manchester played hard defensively. They have one girl who’s (really tall) and we kind of shied away from her. We missed some easy ones.”

The third quarter proved to be pivotal for Centreville offensively as the Lady Tigers put up 12 points while the Lady Mavericks had 15 points to go into the fourth quarter with a potentially commanding 38-27 advantage.

Then the Lady Tigers ramped up its full-court press and forced numerous turnovers that allowed them to chip away at the Lady Mavericks’ lead and eventually take the lead late in the game.

“We had to pick up our press. Savannah had three steals in a row in the fourth quarter. Lacey (Darden) was 6-for-6 from the line and as a team we were 10-for-12 in the fourth quarter,” Cruise said.

Darden finished with nine points for the Lady Tigers. Macy Huggins led Manchester Academy with 14 points.

Centreville Academy (25-7) will take on the winner of today’s first-round game between Glenbrook School and Marshall Academy game in the semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday.

ACCS 49, Starkville Academy 48

(Class AAA boys)

COLUMBIA — The Adams County Christian School Rebels showed their resiliency and the will to win for the second game in a row as they rallied to defeat the Starkville Academy Volunteers 49-48 Monday night in the first round of the 2018 MHSAA Class AAA State Tournament at Columbia Academy.

Josh Day led South No. 3 seed ACCS with a game-high 16 points and Julian Wilson was right behind with 15 points as the Rebels came back from a 16-12 deficit after one quarter of play to stun North No. 2 seed Starkville Academy.

“That’s three tough games in a row,” Rebels head coach Richy Spears said.

The tough stretch of games started with ACCS’ Class AAA South State semifinal loss to Riverfield Academy and continued with its 38-33 consolation game win over Columbia Academy just a day later.

Tuesady, the Rebels outscored the Volunteers 12-9 in the second quarter and 14-12 in the third quarter to take a 38-37 lead. Both teams scored 11 points in the fourth quarter.

“That’s just showing the will in the kids — the desire to win. We’ve been tested. We’ve been there,” Spears said. “I’m glad we were able to pull it out at the end. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into Friday.”

Brady Richardson led Starkville Academy with 13 points and Noah Methdin added 10 points.

ACCS (17-6) will take on South No. 1 seed Hillcrest Christian School in the semifinals at 7:15 p.m. Friday.

Columbus Christian Aca. 69, Trinity Episcopal 55

(Class A boys)

MARKS — Trinity Episcopal could not keep Columbus Christian Academy off the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, helping the Rams upset the Saints 69-55 Tuesday night in the first round of the 2018 MAIS Class A State Tournament at Delta Academy.

Four players scored in double figures for North No. 4 seed Columbus Christian, led by Lawson Stoddard with a game-high 21 points. Will Tealge poured in 18 points while Nate Parker added 15 points and Isaiah Cooper chipped in with 14 points.

The first three quarters were close throughout with neither team able to put distance between itself and its opponent. The game was tied at 12-12 at the end of the first quarter with South No. 1 seed Trinity taking a narrow one-point lead, 28-27, at the half.

The Rams outscored the Saints 16-13 in the third quarter to grab a 43-41 lead. The game looked like it had all the makings of coming down to the final possession. Instead, Trinity hurt itself by committing one foul after another in the fourth quarter and Columbus Christian took advantage, making nearly every free throw it took. The Rams put up 26 points over the final eight minutes, while the Saints had just 14 points as their season came to a conclusion.

Jakarius Caston led District 4-A and South State champion Trinity Episcopal (16-6) with 19 points and TJ Peyton scored 11 points.

Leake Academy 69, ACCS 43

(Class AAA girls)

COLUMBIA — The Adams County Christian School Lady Rebels had to play as close to a perfect game as possible it they wanted to upset the Leake Academy Lady Rebels and keeping  their season going.

Instead, North No. 1 seed Leake Academy jumped out to a 20-11 lead after one quarter of play and never looked back as it defeated South No. 4 seed ACCS 69-43 Tuesday night in the first round of the 2018 MAIS Class AAA State Tournament at Columbia Academy.

Sydni Tangle led the Lady Rebels from Madden with a game-high 20 points and Clancy Scott poured in 18 points. Lexie Emanuel and Brianna Henson led the Lady Rebels from Natchez with 15 points each.

Leake Academy (33-3) continued to control the action on both ends of the court in the second and third quarter to extend its nine-point lead well into double digits, outscoring ACCS 18-9 in the second quarter and 18-6 in the third quarter for a commanding 56-26 advantage.

District 5-AAA champion ACCS finished with an overall record of 15-9.