Mineola advanced in the state basketball playoffs Monday with a 58-56 victory over the Atlanta Lady Rabbits in Hallsville and moves on to face Jefferson in the area round.

The Lady Jackets used pressure defense all over the court, timely scoring and the ability to play fast and slow-paced games to frustrate the district-champion Lady Rabbits.

Atlanta built its biggest lead of the game, 4-1, in the early going and showed the fast break was among its top offensive weapons.

An Ava Johnson basket and two free throws by Macy Fischer put Mineola ahead, and the Lady Jackets would relinquish that lead only briefly the rest of the night.

Atlanta led by two points a couple times in the period, with Mineola finishing strong for a 21-18 edge, with Fischer’s nine leading the way.

Mineola never trailed in the second quarter as the scoring pace continued. The Lady Jackets built the lead to as much as 34-27 before Atlanta closed it down to 39-35 to end the period. A pair of threes from Jayla Jackson aided the effort.

Things slowed considerably after the half. Atlanta grabbed its final lead late in the quarter on a three-pointer, 44-43, only to have Jackson pop a three to retake the lead. Kyra Jackson’s lay in off an inbounds play ended the period with Mineola up 48-44.

After free throws got Atlanta within two, Mineola threatened to pull away, leading by as much as 55-47.

Only poor free throw shooting allowed the Lady Rabbits to hang around, as Mineola converted only 4-15 in the period to go with three baskets.

Atlanta closed the gap to 57-56. Mineola missed two free shots but got the ball back on a steal with time winding down, and Kyra Jackson made one of two charity shots for the final margin.

Scoring included Macy Fischer with 15 points, Jayla Jackson with 11, Kyra Jackson and Mylee Fischer with eight each, Kapri Riley (two threes) and Carmen Carrasco with six each and Paris Spigner and Ava Johnson with two each.

The area game is set Thursday at 6:30 p.m. back at Hallsville, with Mineola as the home team.