NATCHEZ &045; In all of his years of coaching basketball, current Adams County Christian School varsity basketball head coach John R. Gray had never had a team that was shut out in any quarter.

That was until Friday night in the first semifinal game of the Cellular South Miss-Lou Classic at ACCS, when the Rebels went scoreless in the first quarter and could not dig themselves out of the hole and eventually lost to the Central Private Rebels 64-46.

Central Private will play in today’s boys title game at 4 p.m. against the winner of the Brookhaven Academy-Parklane game. ACCS will play in the third-place game at 1:30 p.m. today against the loser of that game.

ACCS (1-1) trailed Central Private 13-0 at the end of the first quarter thanks mainly in part to a stingy defense by the visiting team in this game.

&uot;That’s the first time that’s ever happened in my coaching career,&uot; Gray said. &uot;But there’s a first time for everything.&uot;

Central Private (7-0) mainly used a man-to-man defense but at times also went to either a full-court or three-quarters court press defense that cause eight turnovers and forced ACCS into taking some bad shots.

&uot;I felt like in the first half we came out with a lot of intensity,&uot; Central Private head coach Jason Norris said. &uot;We had good success in out man-to-man defending their screen and roll.&uot;

Their defense was so good that ACCS went not only without a basket but without a point until nearly two minutes into the second quarter, when Brent Dossett finally broke the Rebels’ drought with a lay-up.

ACCS went on to score 14 points in the second quarter, but still trailed at halftime 31-14.

&uot;They are an outstanding team,&uot; Gray said. &uot;Their team was much better coached. Their team was much better prepared. It’s nice to have three of (their players) move in from public schools.&uot;

Despite trailing by double digits for most of the game, except for one point in the fourth quarter when ACCS cut the lead to nine, the Rebels played hard and with a lot of intensity.

Glenn Williams and Dustin Case helped ACCS try to make a game of it in the second half, scoring most of their points in the final 16 minutes.

Williams finished with 17 points, six rebounds and four steals. Case had 12 points, including the team’s only made three-pointer of the game.

ACCS went 1-of-11 from three-point range and was just 7-of-17 from the free-throw line.

&uot;The kids were trying. I’m proud of them,&uot; Gray said. &uot;Williams is a senior. He’s one of those kids that’ll give you 100 percent. We’re only playing half speed on defense and three-quarters speed on offense.

&uot;We’ve got a lot of work to do. They got it down to single digits and then had a turnover. Most of them also play football. We’re not in good shape right now.&uot;

But Kurt Perkins had a strong fourth quarter, especially in the final four minutes, to put the game away.

Perkins finished with 15 points, as did Josh Wall, who also had three boards and three of the team’s six blocked shots.

&uot;Perkins is continuing to improve. We need him to play a little wiser and overcome the mistakes because of his inexperience,&uot; Norris said. &uot;I think Wall is playing consistent night in and night out and we need him to be a little more aggressive in the paint.&uot;

A deep bench also contributed for Central Private as Jenson Sandifer, Brandon Billings and Kyle Buss combined for 17 points, 12 rebounds and two steals.

&uot;We’re trying to play 10 guys,&uot; Norris said. &uot;It’s up to the players if they continue to perform at a high level.&uot;