photo by Marcus Frazier

Huntington’s Emilee Johns searches for a opening to pass the ball in the ACCS Tournament.

Trinity girls survive rally in ACCS tourney

By Matt Burrowes | The Natchez Democrat

Published Friday, November 9, 2007

NATCHEZ — The Trinity Lady Saints survived a late game rally by the Tensas Lady Chiefs to win 32-28 Thursday night at the ACCS 2007 Tip Off Classic.

Tensas got off to a slow start scoring only two points in the first quarter.

“We were out of sync tonight,” Tensas head coach Allen Crigler said. “We got behind and had to gamble on defense.”

Led by Madeline Cross and Sandy Hall, the Lady Saints used a pressure offense to counter Tensas’ defense to score 14 points to end the third quarter at 30-18.

“We were making good, smart decisions in the third quarter,” Trinity basketball coach Melanie Hall said. “That’s why we were able to pull away.”

The Lady Chiefs did not give up. They settled down on defense to hold the Lady Saints to just two points in the fourth quarter.

“We have to play four quarters,” Hall said. “We let them control the game. We can’t allow others to dictate what we do.”

Crigler was optimistic about his team’s play. He said he was pleased with their effort despite the loss.

“I have to be happy about this game,” he said. “To be early in the season and to not play as well as we can, we played hard. We got behind but not down and played through it.”

Brookhaven girls 66, Huntington 36

The Huntington Lady Hounds were no match for mighty Brookhaven in the ACCS Tournament.

Brookhaven jumped out to a 17-0 lead after one quarter and never looked back, coasting to a 30-point victory.

Huntington (1-1) was led by Emilee Johns and Kristen Havard, who both scored 10 points.

Four players scored in double figures for Brookhaven, led by Kelli Smith and Kellie Brady, who both scored 13.

Natchez girls 67, Port Gibson 39

The Natchez Lady Bulldogs steadily pulled away from Port Gibson in the second half and cruised to a comfortable win Thursday night.

Natchez led 27-16 at halftime and outscored Port Gibson 40-23 in the second half.

Keosha Bradley led Natchez (2-0) with 24 points while Alia Frank had 14 and Anastasia Hutchins scored seven.

Rejee McDonald led Port Gibson with 11 points.

Crystal Springs girls 67, Jefferson County 42

The Jefferson County Lady Tigers were outscored in every quarter en route to a 25-point loss to Crystal Springs Thursday.

Erin Wells led Jefferson County with 22 points while Brittany Wyatt chipped in with 10.

Crystal Springs was led by Latasha Nichols with 19 points.

Loyd Star boys 74, Cathedral 63

Cathedral’s Juan Gray scored an amazing 44 points but the Green Wave couldn’t overcome a bigger and stronger Loyd Star team in an 11-point loss.

The game was tied at 55 early in the fourth quarter but Loyd Star went on a late run to put the game away.

In addition to Gray’s scoring barrage, the Green Wave was led by Andy Lucas with 11 points.

Ashton Fox led Loyd Star with 18 points while Matthew Henderson scored 15, Ricky Barnes scored 13 and Ron Jones chipped in with 10.