Kicking off their postseason runs Monday night at South Jones High School, both North Pike's varsity basketball teams advanced to the semifinals of the 5A Region 3 playoffs.
The Lady Jaguars got the night started by taking down Provine 41-28.
They were led by 12 points, eight rebounds and five steals from junior De'Asia Hudson, while fellow junior Kadence Thompson tacked on 10 points and five assists.
"Full-court pressure led to a fast start for us, as we led 21-7 after the first quarter," head coach Ron Kessler explained. "I was very proud of our defensive effort, especially in the halfcourt. We played great defense without fouling, and that allowed us to secure the win."
The girls team will now face second-seeded Natchez at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Soon after, the boys team picked up a hard-earned 54-46 victory over Florence.
Head coach Terrell Anderson believes his team displayed its versatility in the win, as the Eagles ran a box-and-one defense to slow down star guard Quitnerious Thompson.
So, the likes of Cedric McGhee and Bryson Miller picked up the slack by combining for 26 points, and Zach McArthur hit a clutch shot on an inbounds play to ice the game with under a minute left.
"This was a good team win that came with great effort, especially with us not being able to get started playing until about 9:10 p.m.," Anderson explained. "We were down early but fought hard to get back in the game."
The Jaguars now move on to face top-seeded South Jones at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
