By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

BILOXI — The home-court advantage worked well for the St. Patrick Lady Irish as the Class 3A South State playoffs got underway Monday night.
The SPHS girls held off a fourth quarter rally by visiting Crystal Springs to post a 51-46 win and keep their season alive for at least another game.
The win moves the Lady Irish into the Class 3A South State quarterfinals Friday night.

The Lady Irish trailed for much of the opening period, but a 3-point bomb from NBA range by senior standout Brooklyn Mitchell at the buzzer pulled St. Patrick with five at 13-8 to end the quarter.
Crystal Springs maintained that five-point advantage into the second stanza at 19-14, but trailing by that same count the Lady Irish went on a 13-2 run to end the frame that included another trey by Mitchell as well as a pair of baskets inside by Taylor Fayard plus a driving lay-up from Meredith Eleuterius and a put-back by Natalie Gordon to suddenly jump out to a 27-21 lead at halftime.
A 3-pointer by Alex Patino a minute into the third frame gave St. Patrick it’s biggest lead yet at 30-21, and yet another by Mitchell gave the Lady Irish their first double-digit advantage at 39-27 with 2:46 to go in the period.

St. Patrick took a 13-point lead, at 43-30, entering the fourth quarter. Crystal Springs cut the deficit to as few as four, the last time with just under a minute to play at 48-44, but Mitchell converted three free throws in the final:35 seconds to seal the win.
Fayard tallied 15 points to pace St. Patrick, while Mitchell chipped in 14 points as the inside-outside duo combined to give CSHS problems all night. Patino added 11 points to the winning effort, as the Lady Irish placed three players in double digits. Patino and Mitchell combined for a half dozen 3-pointers on the night, hitting a trio of treys apiece.

St. Patrick will travel to Kemper County Friday night in the next round of the playoff. Kemper County electrified Wesson Monday night 64-45.
Jakalyan Williams scored 12 points for CSHS, while Timia Washington had 10 points.
Crystal Springs was coming off a 60-27 thumping of Hazelhurt in the Region 6-3A Tournament championship game on Friday. That was the same night that the Lady Irish fell to Tylertown in the Region 8-3A title tilt 51-34.

Here are the other Class 3A girls opening round playoff scores from Monday night:

East Webster 51, Coahoma County 36

Yazoo County 65, Kossuth 53

Kemper County 64, Wesson 45

St. Patrick 51, Crystal Springs 46

Port Gibson 61, Noxubee County 53

Independence 63, Mooreville 32

Alcorn Central 66, Amanda Elzy 33

Choctaw County 64, Rosa Fort 37

Belmont 67, Ruleville 24

Jefferson Davis County 61, Perry Central 24

South Pike 43, Enterprise-Clarke 19

Tylertown 45, Hazlehurst 20

SE Lauderdale 43, Franklin County 37