FLOWOOD — Making another trip to the state tournament was an enjoyable experience for Tallulah Academy. Being match up with Marvell Academy again was not.

Cathy Patton had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Marvell used a 13-0 run late in the third quarter and early in the fourth to beat Tallulah 43-26 in the first round of the girls’ MPSA Class A tournament on Wednesday.

It was Tallulah’s second trip to the Class A tournament in three years, and both trips have ended in losses to Marvell.

“I’m glad we made it. We fought and we made it. It’s just hard to lose to them again,” said Tallulah’s Katie Book, who had seven points and nine rebounds.

Kori Henard scored eight points for Marvell (26-9). Kathryn Sue Post led Tallulah (22-12) with eight points, and Anna Beth Book scored seven.

Tallulah hit just 3 of 18 shots in the first half, and shot just 23 percent for the game. Still it only trailed by seven points heading into the third quarter and cut that deficit to two, 17-15, midway through the third. But Marvell got hot at the right time and put the game out of reach.

Patton scored seven of her team’s nine points in the third quarter, including six in an 8-0 run to end the period. Her short jumper in the closing seconds made it 25-15, and she added another basket in the opening moments of the fourth quarter. Savanna Foster’s 3-pointer with about seven minutes left put Marvell ahead 30-15, and Tallulah never got it back to single digits.

“The second half, when (Foster) made those 3s, that was it. When it was five or seven, or even nine points, we were in it. When we got behind by 15 or 18 that was too much,” Tallulah coach Mike Sevier said. “We can’t double our score in five minutes.”

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com.