CANTON — It did not take very long for Adams County Christian School to take control of its game against Winona Christian School at the Canton Academy Christmas Holiday Shootout.

By the time the first quarter was over, ACCS had a commanding 26-4 lead over an overmatched Winona Christian team and the Rebels rolled to a 62-20 win over the Stars Saturday afternoon.

“We got off to a good start early. We had some steals early on. We got some fast-break points. We got into our transition game. Defensively, we put pressure on the ball,” Rebels head coach Richy Spears said.

The second quarter was more of the same as ACCS continued to add to its already overwhelming advantage. And just like the first quarter, there was little Winona Christian could do to stop it. The Rebels outscored the Stars 22-5 to take a 48-9 lead into halftime.

“We’re going to be up-tempo, pressuring the ball,” Spears said. “A bunch of players got some playing time.”

Twelve players found their way into the scoring column for the Rebels. Brody Cole led the way with a game-high 15 points, Devin Spear finished with nine points, and Trey Fleming and Tyler Stockstill had seven points each. Evan Wood was the leading scorer for the Stars with eight points.

ACCS (10-1) will be back in action on Monday at the Canton Academy Christmas Holiday Shootout when the Rebels take on Manchester Academy at 4:30 p.m.

Acadiana 73, Natchez High 68 (OT)

LAFAYETTE, La. — The Natchez High School Bulldogs had a much better showing against Acadiana High School Saturday afternoon in a losers’ bracket game at the 2014 Sunkist Shootout than they did in their first-round game against St. Augustine.

Unfortunately, Natchez High was unable to hold a seven-point lead after three quarters of play and the Bulldogs eventually fell to the Rams in overtime 73-68 to finish 0-2 in tournament play.

Just like on Friday afternoon, the Bulldogs got off to a slow start offensively and trailed Acadiana 12-7 at the end of the first quarter. But this time the Bulldogs responded in a big way thanks to the efforts of Daryl Jones, Michael Morris, and Ty’Ran Newman.

First, they outscored the Rams 17-14 in the second quarter to trail 26-24 at halftime. Then Natchez High put up 24 points in the third quarter to take a 48-41 lead into the fourth quarter.

Jones led the Bulldogs with 21 points while Morris added 14 points and Newman poured in 10 points.

However, Acadiana had a response of its own. Led by Ladrakkus Thomas and Keithon Mouton, the Rams outscored the Bulldogs 20-13 to force overtime with the score tied at 61-all. The Rams finished off the comeback win with a 12-7 advantage in the extra period. Thomas led all scorers with 27 points and Mouton ended up with 21 points.

Natchez High (7-2) returns to action on Tuesday, Jan. 6 when it plays host to McComb High School.

Natchez (girls) 60, St. Martin 52

HATTIESBURG — Even though St. Martin High School had three players score in double figures, it still wasn’t enough to defeat defending Class 5A state champion and top-ranked Natchez High School.

Zyaire Ewing led the Lady Bulldogs with a game-high 26 points as they got past the Lady Yellow Jackets 60-52 Saturday afternoon in the first round of the Hattiesburg Coca-Cola Holiday Tournament.

“This was one of the better teams we’ve faced this season. But we had some players step up,” Natchez High head coach Alphaka Moore said. “Zyaire stepped up. Ernesha (Chatman) did a good job of controlling the tempo of the game.”

Both teams got off to a good start in the first quarter, only to bog down in the second quarter. Natchez High led St. Martin 16-14 after one quarter of play, but the shots weren’t falling for either team in the second quarter. Still, the Lady Bulldogs managed to outscore the Lady Yellow Jackets 9-8 for a 25-22 halftime lead.

Savannah Jones, Jakina Washington and Deona Morgan did their best to keep St. Martin in the ball game throughout the second half. However, they didn’t get enough help from their teammates. Jones finished with 21 points, Washington had 14 points and Morgan added 11 points.

Natchez High outscored St. Martin 14-11 in the third quarter and 21-19 in a fast-paced fourth quarter. Rashonae Rice scored eight points for the Lady Bulldogs while Chatman ended up with seven points and Kirdis Clark contributed with six points.

“We have some things we need to work on as far as moving the ball around. But overall, I was pleased with the effort,” Moore said.

Natchez High (9-0) will take on the winner of the Laurel/Hattiesburg game on at 6 p.m. Monday.

ACCS (girls) 68, Winona Christian 47

CANTON — Jordan Petty led Adams County Christian School with a game-high 15 points while Skylar Adams had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Lady Rebels past the Winona Christian School Lady Stars 68-47 Saturday afternoon at the Canton Academy Christmas Holiday Shootout.

Four players for ACCS finished in double figures scoring. Anna McDaniel finished with 13 points and Bailey Boyd added 10 points. But it wasn’t until the second half that the Lady Rebels were able to pull away from Winona Christian.

The first quarter didn’t look too good for the Lady Stars as they had a hard time getting shots to fall against the Lady Rebels’ defense. Winona Christian found itself trailing ACCS 16-9 at the end of the quarter.

In the second quarter, it was the Lady Rebels who struggled from the field and they were outscored 13-11 by the Lady Stars to go into halftime only up by five points at 27-22. But that turned out to be the closest that Winona Christian would get.

The Lady Rebels just had too much firepower for the opposition to contain in the second half. They ended up scoring 41 points after halftime while Winona Christian managed just 25 total points.

ACCS (13-2) takes on Manchester Academy at 3 p.m. Monday in the Christmas Holiday Shootout.