FLOWOOD &045; The Trinity Episcopal Saints were expected to be a serious contender for the MPSA Class A state championship this season.

That was before they lost Chase Brown to a knee injury during the football season and Dudley Guice Jr. then transferred to Jefferson County.

Yet the Saints still ended up one game short of playing for the state title, but came up short to the Rossville Christian Rebels 51-29 Friday night in a semifinal matchup at University Christian School.

Trinity (18-12) will play Winston Academy, a 76-51 loser to Glenbrook, in the third place game at 6 p.m. today while Glenbrook and Claiborne will square off for the state title at 7:15 p.m. today.

&uot;The big difference was they were the better team,&uot; Saints head coach David King said. &uot;Our kids still played with a lot of intensity. We were within one game of the state championship.&uot;

Rossville Christian (30-4), coached by former Memphis State star Vincent Askew, led just 14-10 after one quarter of play, but put the game out of reach by outscoring Trinity a combined 22-7 in the second and third quarters.

And the Saints had no answer for the Rebels’ Chip Reeves, who led his team and all scorers with 19 points. Robert Manson led Trinity with 13 points.

&uot;After all this team’s been through, to be within one game of the state championship, it’s been a pretty remarkable season,&uot; King said. &uot;And it’s not over yet. We’ve been in the top four in the state five of the last six years. Not many programs can say that.&uot;

The only season the Saints did not make it to Overall was 2000-2001, when they were upset by Tensas in the first round of South State.

Claiborne girls 46, Tensas 42

The Lady Chiefs nearly rallied from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Rebels held on to advance to the 1A State title game with the semifinal win Friday afternoon.

Tensas (25-7) will play in the third place game against Kemper Academy, which lost to Delta Academy 61-45 in the other semifinal, at 1 p.m. today. Claiborne will take on Delta for the state title at 2:15 p.m. today.

The Lady Chiefs fell behind early and often as they trailed Claiborne (28-3) 27-17 at halftime and 39-25 after three quarters of play before finally getting into an offensive rhythm in the fourth quarter.

However, the Lady Chiefs ran out of time and the Lady Rebels held on for the win.