MONTICELLO-The North Pike and South Pike girls, and the McComb and Lawrence County boys, were semi-final winners in Thursday night Division 7-4A tournament action, at Lawrence County High School.

In girls’ action, North Pike defeated McComb 51-44, and South Pike bested host Lawrence County by a 68-52 score. In boys’ play, top-ranked McComb blasted North Pike 101-58, and Lawrence County edged Columbia 49-44.

With their victories, the four winners not only advance to the Friday-night championship games, they also assured themselves of hosting a first-round playoff game against a lower seed, next week. The semi-final losers will be forced to go on the road, against a higher-seeded team, next week.

Here’s a brief game-by-game re-cap of Thursday’s semi-final action:

NORTH PIKE GIRLS 51, McCOMB 44 

A strong first quarter propelled Lance Golmon’s Lady Jaguars into Friday’s finals. North Pike outscored McComb 20-8 in the opening period. Rickera Martin led North Pike with 18 points, 10 of them coming in the first quarter. Latorya Humpries added 10.

Mylisha Hammond led the Lady Tigers with 13 points, and Delleshonia Dixon added 11.

SOUTH PIKE GIRLS 68, LAWRENCE COUNTY 52

South Pike led 29-18 in a competitive first half, but South Pike stretched its lead in the third quarter, and cruised into a finals match-up against North Pike.

La’dereka McNeil led Janice Felder’s Lady Eagles with 15 points, and Nakaylis Washington added 14. Myneka Frazier hit double figures with 12. South Pike was the regular-season division winner.

DeNeisha Dickson and Zipporah Baylis led Vicki Rutland’s girls with 13 points each. Haven Johnson added 12, and Camryn Davis had 10. Lawrence County will face McComb in the third-place game.

McCOMB BOYS 101, NORTH PIKE 58

Hilton Harrell’s Tigers, the defending division and state 4A champions, flexed their muscles in a semi-final route of North Pike. McComb raced to a 27-7 first quarter lead, and were never really threatened in the game. The Tigers finished off the Jaguars by hitting 7 three-pointers in a 33-point fourth quarter outburst.

Carlos Porter led McComb with 22 points. Five Tigers netted double figures. Emmanuel Thompson added 17. Zarkechious Martin had 12. James Williams scored 11, and QuaDarius Green had 10.

Javion Jackson led North Pike with 18 points. Jacob Deer had 12, and LaDarrius Dunn scored 11.

LAWRENCE COUNTY BOYS 49, COLUMBIA 44 

In the final game of the evening, Lawrence County overcame a 26-19 halftime deficit to edge upset-minded Columbia. Columbia, the lowest-seeded team in the division, routed third-seeded Purvis in an opening-round game. Lawrence County’s defense held Columbia to 3 third-quarter points to trigger the Cougars’ comeback.

Keith Davis led Lawrence County with 22 points, 15 of them coming in the decisive second half. Gabriel Lewis added 10. Pat Bridges’ crew will tangle with top-seeded McComb in the championship game.

Eric Thompson led Columbia with 13 points, and Freddrick Peters had 12. The Wildcats will take on North Pike in the third-place game.

Friday’s action begins at 4 p.m., with Lawrence County taking on McComb in the girls’ third-place game.