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The Huntland High School Hornets beat the Moore County Raiders 56-50 at Cornersville Saturday in the third-place game for the District 9A tournament.

The Hornets never trailed in the contest and pulled away early in the final period before holding off a late offensive surge from the Raiders to secure their third-place finish in the bracket.

The Hornets jumped ahead early in the contest as they were able to create a small amount of separation from the Raiders.

Huntland led 12-7 after one quarter.

The Hornets opened the second quarter with an 11-4 run to briefly take a double-digit lead before the Raiders scored the last five points of the half to make up some ground.

Huntland led 23-16 at halftime.

The Hornets maintained a steady lead throughout the third quarter as they carried an eight-point advantage into the final period. Eli Wiggs scored seven of Huntland’s 12 points in the third quarter.

They led 35-27 after three quarters.

The Hornets began the fourth quarter with a 12-2 run to bring the deficit up to a new peak of 18 points. The Raiders scored 10 points in the final minute of the contest to make it a closer game, but the Hornets held on to win by six.

Braylen Phillips led the Hornets with 15 points for the game, followed by Zeier Golden with 14 points and Wiggs with 13.

Trace Kilpatrick scored seven points, Lashawn Kimmons scored five and Kannon Lafevers scored two.

Following the conclusion of the tournament, Phillips was recognized as District 9A’s regular-season MVP, and Wiggs and Kimmons were named to the all-district team for the year.

Phillips and Golden were named to the all-tournament team.

With the win, the Hornets improved to 15-14 on the season.

They will next play Saturday at Richland High School in a quarterfinal game for the Region 5A tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.