NATCHEZ &045; For the first quarter, Amite School Center stayed close with Adams Christian.

After that, things got ugly. Adams Christian won the game 41-19, outscoring ASC 34-14 over the final three quarters to get a blowout victory at the Adams Christian Girls’ Tip-Off Classic.

Amite trailed 7-5 at the end of the first quarter before ACCS held a 12-0 edge in the second to pull away.

&uot;We played good in spurts tonight. I was pleased with our performance defensively,&uot; ACCS head coach John Gray said. &uot;We still need to learn to pass and take open shots, what I call making good decisions.&uot;

That good decision-making may simply come with time since Adams Christian is playing with an entirely new starting lineup this year.

All five starters from last year’s squad graduated, leaving the team young an inexperienced. Two seniors, three juniors and three sophomores will form the core of the team this year.

&uot;We’re searching for a starting lineup,&uot; Gray said. &uot;Right now I’m rewarding the girls who worked hard this summer, but over the next few games I think starters will show who they are.&uot;

Amite struggled because they didn’t shoot well either from the field or from the line. The defensive pressure applied by Adams Christian may have had something to do with that, but still ASC could have Billy Jones said. &uot;It’s hard to stay in the game when you can’t get anything to fall for you.&uot;

Adams County was led by the play of point guard Brittany Gamberi and forward Mattie Geohegan. Despite scoring just a single point, Gamberi’s defensive effort and ball-handling were crucial in the victory.

Geohegan scored four points in both the first and third quarters and rebounded the ball well, giving AC a low-post presence to complement solid guard play from Gamberi and Laura Guedon, who did not start but played most of the game.

&uot;We’re coming together. We still struggle with passing, but we played better tonight,&uot; Geohegan said. &uot;There was a lot more intensity out there tonight. We just have to keep improving.&uot;

Ten different players scored for Adams Christian as Arianna DeLaSalle and Mattie Geoghegan each scored eight to lead the Lady Rebels.

Tensas 50, Trinity 33

Despite starting slow, the Lady Chiefs showed why they are so highly regarded in a win over Trinity.

Tensas increased its scoring output each quarter, slowly pulling away from their opponents for the victory.

Tabitha Howard had 15 points for the Lady Chiefs, matching the 15 put up by Trinity’s Mallory Archer. But Tensas also had two other players &045; Sarah Beth Melville (12) and Megan Bauerle (11) &045; in double digits.

Huntington 35, Centreville 33

Huntington won a tight one over Centreville in the early game.

The Lady Hounds outscored their opponents 12-7 in the fourth quarter to secure the two-point victory and a winning start to the season. Centreville led the game 21-15 at halftime before Huntington came roaring back in the second half.

Leslie Wagoner paced Huntington with 11 points, while Brittany Boatner had 12 points to lead the Lady Tigers.