NATCHEZ &045; Three-pointers, rebounding and tight man-to-man defense &045; just what you wouldn’t expect in a season-opener.

Technically for Parklane’s Lady Pioneers, it was.

But they played a tight man in the second quarter, had some key 3-pointers throughout the contest and pulled away from a good Centreville team, 64-45, Monday night in the opening night of the Adams Christian Girls’ Tip-Off Classic.

&uot;Switching to the man helped us pick up our intensity,&uot; Parklane head coach Kim Weaver said. &uot;I was really pleased with the effort of the girls tonight, especially our younger girls. Several girls stepped up and played well.&uot;

The Lady Pioneers switched to the man defense at the start of the second quarter, and what was shaping up to be a tight contest between two good teams went the other way. The Lady Pioneers broke out to a 20-0 run to start the quarter, and the Lady Tigers were struggling to rebound as well as stop Parklane’s Rebecca Brabham, who had two 3-pointers in the run.

Brabham finished the game with six 3-pointers for a game-high 25 points.

&uot;What hurt us more than anything was when they were going out to No. 35 (Brabham) on the wing,&uot; CA head coach Penny Sawyer said. &uot;A lot of other things were throwing us off, but that was the main thing.&uot;

The Lady Tigers &045; in a zone defense most of the game &045; had a 14-13 lead heading into the second quarter, and the Parklane’s defensive switch held them scoreless for nearly the first six minutes of the quarter.

Brabham finished the run with her second 3-pointer for a 33-14 lead, and Centreville got its first basket with 2:07 left on a shot from Rachel Jackson.

&uot;Rebecca Brabham shot the ball extremely well,&uot; said Weaver, who started four seniors and one sophomore in the contest. &uot;She helped us break up their zone and move the ball inside, which is our strength.&uot;

Parklane was able to collapse at times on Centreville post Jenae Jackson, who scored late in the second quarter and was able to help her team trim the lead some at the start of the third quarter. Jenae Jackson had a bucket and a three-point play just before half that cut the lead to 35-21, but the Lady Pioneers took a 38-21 lead at the break.

&uot;That was our main thing &045; push her as far away from the basket as we could and make her shoot from 15 feet,&uot; Weaver said.

At the start of the second half the Lady Tigers got hot from the outside and opened things up a bit inside for Jenae Jackson, who led her club with 16 points. Kelly Simpson and Ash Brashier each tossed in 3-pointers, and another Brashier bucket came before Jenae Jackson hit one of two free throws with 49 seconds left to cut the lead to 45-35.

That’s when Parklane got a 3-pointer from Jamie Selafani to end Centreville’s 15-3 run. The shot was one of seven 3-pointers on the night for Parklane.

&uot;Both teams battled, and both teams played well,&uot; Sawyer said. &uot;We’ve got to get in better shape.&uot;