The third quarter decided the showdown between Southside and Dallas County.

The Hornets took advantage of Southside’s cold shooting in a 55-40 victory on Friday night in Plantersville.

Southside trailed 28-24 at halftime, but missed its first 10 shots of the second half. By the time the Panthers made a basket, they trailed 38-27 after three quarters.

“Both started were cold at times,” Hornets coach Cliff Nix said. “Our defensive intensity picked up in the second half and we started making shots.”

Senior guard Kendall Thomas led the Hornets (3-1) with 16 points. He hit three treys in the first quarter, allowing Dallas County to lead 13-9 after one quarter.

“The team saw that I was hot from the beginning and they kept feeding me the ball,” Thomas said. “They kept looking for me.”

Southside (1-3) made a run to start the second quarter. Markendrick Williams scored five of his 13 points during an 8-0 run that gave the Panthers a 17-16 lead with six minutes left before halftime.

Dallas County, however, recovered to take a slim 28-24 lead at halftime. Octavious Palmer had five points in the second quarter as the Hornets never trailed again.

The Hornets had two other double-figure scorers: Darrius Ellis and Al’Taviion Rucker each scored 10 points.

“It was important that we beat Southside because they beat us last year,” Rucker said. “We want to beat all of the teams that beat us last year.”

Nix said the county rivalry contests against Keith High, Selma High and Southside can make the Hornets strong for the postseason.

Southside girls 47, Dallas County 17: Christina Watts scored 16 points, Kylan Brown added 14 as the Lady Panthers cruised to an easy victory.

Southside led from the start, building a 12-3 after one quarter and 22-3 at halftime. The Lady Hornets went scoreless for nearly 12 minutes.