The Minden Lady Tiders and North Webster Lady Knights both pulled upsets in the first round of the playoffs Thursday night.
Minden, the No. 24 seed, rallied past No. 9 Northwest 57-55 in a non-select Division II game in Opelousas. North Webster, the No. 17 seed, edged No. 16 Avoyelles 40-38 in a non-select Division III game in Moreauville.
Minden (15-11) will visit No. 8 Bastrop in the second round next week. The Lady Rams (19-8) defeated No. 25 Cecilia 59-39 in the first round.
North Webster (15-13) will visit No. 1 seed Oakdale (22-5) in the second round. The Lady Warriors had a first-round bye.
At Northwest, Minden rallied from a 19-point halftime deficit.
Brooklyn Jefferson kept her outstanding junior season going with 27 points.
According to The Lafayette Advertiser, the game was tied at 55 with 4.8 seconds left and Northwest in possession. Jefferson stole the inbounds pass, missed inside, got the rebound and made the putback for the gamewinner.
Down 37-18 at the half, the Lady Tiders cut the lead to five after three quarters.
Shelby Glenn hit two of her three 3-pointers in the third and scored eight points. Markeithdra Willis also made a 3 and scored seven. Jefferson was 4-of-6 from the free throw line and scored eight.
Jefferson scored 10 in the fourth quarter. Travesti Byrd scored four big points.
In addition to her 27 points, Jefferson had 25 rebounds , seven steals and two blocks. She was 13-of-16 from the line.
Glenn finished with 11 points. She also had five assists, six steals and seven rebounds.
“It was a great team win,” Minden Head Coach Cindee Wright-Clark said.
Byrd had nine points, seven rebounds, four assists and six steals. Willis had seven points, eight rebounds, and three assists.
Alexi Hatter had five rebounds and two points. Maddison Crawford had five rebounds and one point.
Northwest finished 21-7.
At Avoyelles, Nazaria Caldwell led North Webster with 23 points. Shakyra Hawkins added nine. Makiyah White chipped in six.
The Lady Knights trailed 28-24 at the half. The game became a defensive battle in the second half,
North Webster outscored Avoyelles 7-4 in the third quarter to cut lead lead to one. Caldwell scored six in the fourth quarter. White had a two-point basket and Hawkins made a free throw.
Sanaa Harrell led the Lady Mustangs (10-16) with 16 points. She hit three 3-pointers in the first half and scored 12.