NATCHEZ – Trinity Episcopal’s varsity basketball teams will be traveling north to Rolling Fork, to participate in the Jeff Arrington Memorial Tournament at Sharkey-Issaquena Academy.

The double-elimination tournament starts Thursday with the boys and girls championship games on Saturday.

The Trinity Episcopal Lady Saints will play the Manchester Lady Mavericks in first-round action at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

The Lady Saints go into the tournament with a 9-1 record.

&uot;We’re just thankful for the opportunity to play,&uot; said Lady Saints head coach Melanie Hall. &uot;We’re excited about it.&uot;

Hall said she didn’t know a lot about the Lady Mavericks.

&uot;They’re Triple A. They’re supposed to be one of the top teams in their district,&uot; she said.

&uot;Their coach, coach Specks, I coached against him when I was at ACCS. He’s a fine coach,&uot; she continued.

Hall said she expects Manchester to be one the really good teams in the tournament.

&uot;Their teams are fundamentally sound,&uot; she said.

So how did Trinity Episcopal end up playing in a tournament that was not even on its original schedule?

&uot;I had talked with Sharkey’s coach during the summer. She sent me a bracket with us on it,&uot; Hall said.

Because some games were cancelled due to the Saints’ march to the MPSA Class 1A state title, both coaches decided to play in this tournament.

&uot;I felt like this was a good thing for us to get more games played,&uot; Hall said.

This will be the first of two tournaments – with a &uot;shoot out&uot; in between – for the Saints and Lady Saints in a three-week period.

They will also be playing in the WCCA New Year’s SHOOT OUT 2002 in Woodville Jan. 3-5 and the Jackson Academy New Year Classic Jan. 9-12.

The boys team, currently at 5-1, will play the Manchester Mavericks at 2:45 p.m. Thursday.

Saints head coach David King could not be reached for comment on Christmas Eve.