JACKSON — After signing with Arkansas last week, 6-foot-4 Ashley Wilson of Byhalia got plenty of hype heading into her team’s semifinal contest with Southeast Lauderdale in the Class 3A Girls State Tournament.

But it didn’t take long Wednesday afternoon here at the Mississippi Coliseum for Southeast’s Tiawana Pringle to let folks know there was another superstar on the floor.

Pringle scored 10 of her team’s first 13 points as Southeast took control early, and the Lady Tigers blistered Byhalia 69-48 to set up another championship showdown with Choctaw Central.

Southeast and Choctaw will meet Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Big House for the Class 3A state crown. The teams have split four contests this season, and Choctaw knocked off Southeast for the state crown last year.

“I don’t want to sound cocky, but all along I really felt like it would be us and Choctaw,” Southeast coach Joe Miller said. “I’ve said before it’s kinda like a heavyweight boxing match … we won the first two rounds and they’ve won the last two rounds. They’re an excellent ball team and they’re playing exceptionally well right now.”

Choctaw Central coach Walter Wilson said after his team’s semifinal victory Tuesday that he didn’t care who the opponent was — so long as his Lady Warriors were in the finals. Wednesday afternoon, Southeast left no doubt as to who would be facing Wilson’s Lady Warriors.

Pringle hit back-to-back 3-pointers and scored 10 points in the game’s first 2 minutes, 26 seconds. She helped guide her team to a 17-0 run later in the first half, and Southeast was never challenged afterward as the Lady Tigers improved to 34-3.

A Louisiana Tech signee, Pringle finished with 31 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals. Fellow senior Marqueta Reed had 11 points and five boards, Lucy Ruffin had 11 points and four assists, Martika Ivy had nine points and five rebounds and Tushundra Owens had six points, eight boards and three blocked shots.

Ivy and Owens, the two starting post players since Southeast lost senior Chasiti Nichols, both eventually fouled out.

“We’re hurting on depth,” Miller said. “And when you lose one post player, it seems like all your other post players always get in foul trouble.”

Ivy got her third foul in the second quarter, but it was meaningless on the scoreboard. Southeast held Byhalia without a point for 5 minutes, 52 seconds and was up 40-17 at the break.

“I didn’t wanna spread the ball that early,” Miller said. “But with a 20-point lead and the ball in Pringle‚s hands, I felt pretty confident.

“Tiawana brings a lot of confidence every time out. She brings good senior leadership; she and Queta Reed both have great leadership,” Miller said. “I thought it was a big spark for us for Queta to hit some 3s early. That got us going and I thought our pressure hurt them early.

“That was good, because (Byhalia) was a lot bigger than I thought they were going to be. They hurt us on the boards. We were just able to play enough defense to win.”

Wilson, who spent the bulk of the first half chasing Pringle out front, finished with seven points, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.

North State champ Byhalia did out-rebound Southeast 43-33. Brady Fayne had 10 points and eight rebounds, Lashonda Odom scored 10 points and Queanisha Cathey had six points and six boards for the Lady Indians — who finished 26-7.

Southeast committed just 11 turnovers, and five of those came in the fourth period — well after the outcome had been decided.

“I thought we took care of the ball well,” said Miller — who entered this year’s state tourney with 397 career wins. He now has 399, but said a possible title Saturday means more than reaching 400.

“The gold ball is always a special victory,” he said. “It’s going to be a tremendous challenge, but we’re looking forward to it. I know both teams will be ready to play.”