By BRAD HURT ~ DAR Sports Writer

BROSELEY -- Saturday marked the fourth meeting of the season between the Twin Rivers and Neelyville girls and the Lady Royals defended their home court to take a 3-1 series lead with a 60-56 win.

The Lady Royals overcame a 50-47 deficit in the fourth quarter to advance to a semifinal against top-seeded Naylor on Tuesday.

In the other quarterfinal, Doniphan cruised past Clearwater 50-30.

Jordan Hart led the Donettes with 12 points, while Adriann D'Amico paced the Lady Tigers with 11.

Doniphan left no doubt about the outcome, racing to a 16-0 lead after the first quarter. Janna Payton got into the scorebook first for Clearwater with a free throw 1 1/2 minutes into the second quarter.

"We were ready to play," Doniphan coach Jimbo Blackwell said.

Clearwater picked up the intensity in the second half, but the early deficit was too much to overcome.

"My girls attacked in the second half," Clearwater coach Heather Evans said.

While she was pleased with her team's second-half effort, Evans found less that she liked about the beginning of the game.

"We didn't look to score," she said. "We could have given them a better game, but we waited for things to happen in the first half."

The Donettes will face the winner of Monday's game between Greenville and East Carter in a semifinal Wednesday.

"We have a big job ahead of us," Blackwell said.

The Lady Royals, who led by three at the break, found themselves staring at a threepoint deficit as the fourth quarter began.

They opened the second half with a 10-2 run, only to see the Lady Tigers roar back with a run of their own.

Jackie Griffin knocked down a 3-pointer while she and Chelsey Maupin added layups to trim the Twin Rivers lead to 45-43. They took the lead by scoring the next seven points, but Briana Johnson saved the day for Twin Rivers, coming through with consecutive baskets with less than 3 minutes left to seal the win.

"We forced turnovers, and that was the difference in the game," said Twin Rivers coach Jeff Walk of the 24 turnovers the Lady Royals forced.

Neelyville missed a 3-point attempt to tie the game late before Johnson hit a free throw to seal the victory.

"They're making young mistakes and it's making me have gray hair," Neelyville coach Becky Hale said. "We had our opportunities and they just didn't fall for us."

The tournament continues through Friday.