David Jackson swatted away Connor Mire’s desperation 3-point heave as time expired and Trinity Episcopal escaped with a 56-53 win over Cathedral High School in boys basketball action Monday night in front of a raucous crowd.

“We have some players that really refuse to lose,” Trinity coach Andy Blair said. “No matter where they’re at, I always feel comfortable. Cathedral is a great team, they have a great coach and their players are all class acts. We were lucky to get out of here with a win tonight.”

The two teams played to a tightly contested second half, which featured four lead changes as neither team was willing to bow out to their cross-town rivals.

“We got better last Thursday at Monterey (a 44-43 win),” CHS coach Matthew Hall said. “We got better against Block (last Friday), and tonight was probably our most complete game. Our games need to be in the 50s.”

Cathedral missed its first four free-throw attempts to begin the fourth quarter, and Hall said he thinks that was a key as to why his squad wasn’t able to come away victorious. The Green Wave shot just 7 of 13 from the line for the game.

“I told my guys on the bench, ‘That’s probably going to come back to bite us,’” Hall said. “But we’re getting better each game. They’re hurting. To lose a rivalry game like that, it’s no fun. But they can see that they’re getting better a little bit each game, and we’re going to be fine.”

Jackson led the way for Trinity with 22 points, while Jakarius Caston had 10 and DeSanto Rollins had eight points.

The Saints scored the first four points of the second half to break open what was a 24-24 halftime score, but the Green Wave responded with a 12-1 spurt to take a 36-29 lead.

Cathedral’s momentum was quickly stalled after Trinity’s Sterling Yarbrough connected on a pair of 3 pointers on back-to-back possessions, trimming the Green Wave advantage to 37-35 heading into the fourth quarter.

“We have a lot of options, and they’re all young,” Blair said. “They’ve been playing together for a year, but by February, these guys are going to be something to contend with.”

Mire led the Green Wave with 15 points, and Derrion Batieste had 12. William Doss chipped in with nine points.

Trinity will be back in action Thursday in the Tensas Tournament, while Cathedral will face district and city rival Adams County Christian School today.

CHS (girls) 60, Trinity 52

Elizabeth Smith scored 34 points and Grayson Bryant added 12 points as the Cathedral Lady Green Wave defeated the Trinity Episcopal Lady Saints 60-52 in this cross-town battle Monday night.

Cathedral head coach Peter Arnold said he was pleased with the way his team played offensively, but no so much on the defensive end. That’s because Trinity Episcopal’s D’Asia Mitchell also scored 34 points.

“We really didn’t play all that well, particularly defensively,” Arnold said. “Mitchell made six 3s. We were patient on offense. Our advantage was going inside to Elizabeth. She played really well.”

Cathedral went into halftime up 34-26 and then played its best defense in the third quarter, outscoring Trinity 15-8 for a 49-34 lead.

“We were short some girls. But I think they played a real good game,” Lady Saints head coach Fay Minor said. “They never gave up. I was OK with their play overall.”

Trinity Episcopal (3-4) takes on Claiborne Academy at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Tenas Academy Tournament. Cathedral (7-0) plays at MAIS District 4-AAA rival ACCS today at 6 p.m.