NATCHEZ — Defense led to offense for the Cathedral Lady Green Wave in the first half of its game Monday night against the Mississippi School for the Deaf Lady Bulldogs.

Grayson Bryant, Natalie Fletcher and Caroline Kaiser each scored in double figures in leading the Lady Green Wave to a 60-50 win over the Lady Bulldogs.

“Our press worked really well. We jumped out to a big lead. We were able to play everybody and get them some minutes,” Cathedral head coach Peter Arnold said.

Cathedral forced several turnovers and contested shots, which turned to transition baskets throughout the first two quarters. The Lady Green Wave led MSD 24-9 at the end of the first quarter and 40-17 by halftime.

Bryant finished with 17 points while Fletcher had 12 points and Kaiser chipped in with 10 points. Baylee Graning and Elizabeth Smith contributed with five points each.

“We shared the ball really well of offense. Getting it to the open player. Putting up 40 points in the first half is good scoring,” Arnold said. “We shot the ball well in the first half, and the first few minutes of the second half. Then I started putting our younger players in.”

Cathedral outscored MSD 16-11 in the third quarter to make it a 57-28 ball game. The Lady Bulldogs made the final score more respectable with a 22-4 advantage in the fourth quarter. Kylisha Cathey led the visitors with a game-high 18 points and Jaleah Dortch scored 11 points.

“It’s really beneficial when you can get the young players in and get them some minutes,” Arnold said.

The Lady Green Wave improved to 5-2 overall and will return to MAIS District 4-AAA action today at 5 p.m. when it plays at Laurel Christian School.

Cathedral boys 72, MSD 49

NATCHEZ — Jackson Carpenter led a balanced scoring attack for the Cathedral Green Wave with 12 points and Ty Tobias had 11 points is it rolled to a 72-49 win over the Mississippi School for the Deaf Bulldogs Monday night.

“We didn’t get off to a great start, but we got off to a decent start,” Cathedral head coach Peter Arnold said. “We kept subbing and kept putting people in. We wore them down with the pressure defense.”

Even though Cathedral struggled at times to get shots to fall in the first quarter, its defense more than made up for it. The Green Wave held MSD to just five points and led by 10 points at the end of the quarter.

The Bulldogs tried to stay within striking distance in the second quarter, but they were still outscored by Cathedral 19-15 and trailed at halftime 34-20. It only got worse for the visitors from Jackson as the Green Wave put up 20 points while limiting the Bulldogs to 13 points in the third quarter for a commanding 54-33 advantage.

“We were sharing the ball and getting it to the open shooter. We missed some open shots. But this was one of our best games in terms of how we moved the ball,” Arnold said. “We’re still not anywhere near what we’re capable of being.”

Jardarius Anderson added 10 points, William Doss put up nine points, and D.J. Batteste poured in eight points for the Green Wave.

Cathedral (5-2) next plays at Laurel Christian School today at 6:30 p.m.

Trinity Episcopal boys 52, Delta Charter School 49 (OT)

NATCHEZ — David Jackson led Trinity Episcopal with a game-high 27 points and the Saints needed every one of them to get past a gritty Delta Charter School Storm squad 52-49 in overtime Monday night.

Trinity Episcopal saw an eight-point lead at the end of the third quarter disappear as the Saints were outscored by Delta Charter 14-6. But the Saints did just enough on both ends of the court in the overtime session to outscore the Storm 7-4 for the three-point victory.

But the game should not have needed overtime to determine the outcome of this game. Trinity overcame a poor performance from the field to take a 7-6 lead after one quarter of play.

The Saints went on to outscored Delta Charter 14-12 in the second quarter and 18-13 in the third quarter for what should have been a commanding 39-31 lead. But they went cold in the fourth quarter and the Storm took advantage. Davern Mays led the Storm with 14 points.

Delta Charter (no record available) plays today at 7:30 p.m. at Georgetown High School. Trinity Episcopal (3-1) next plays at 7:30 p.m. today at Silliman Institute.

Trinity Episcopal girls 65, Delta Charter School 30

NATCHEZ — The Delta Charter School Lady Storm had a nightmare of a first half and fell behind by 42 points at halftime in a 65-30 loss to the Trinity Episcopal Lady Saints Monday night.

Trinity Episcopal’s press defense forced a lot of turnovers and that allowed the Lady Saints to make one easy transition basket after another. The result was a 22-7 lead in the first quarter and a 49-7 lead in the second quarter after Delta Charter failed to score a single point in that quarter.

The Lady Storm played better in the second half and outscored the Lady Saints, albeit with their reserves, 12-8 in the third quarter and 11-8 in the fourth quarter.

Tali Beard, D’Asia Mitchell and Dionna Jackson led the Lady Saints with 14 points each. Kiaci Parker led the Lady Storm with a game-high 19 points.

Delta Charter (no record available) plays at 6 p.m. today at Georgetown High School. Trinity Episcopal (5-2) next plays today at 6 p.m. at Silliman Institute.