NATCHEZ &045; The word on Adams Christian was true: lots of size and some solid shooters.

But a tough place to play?

Maybe it was Bob Ulmer Gym that gave Central Hinds such a rough start Saturday afternoon against the Rebels, but a few big buckets into the third quarter the Cougars pulled away by executing near-flawlessly in the half-court offense to take a 52-44 win over the Rebels in a District 3-AA game.

With the new district alignment, all the Cougars had to go on was word of mouth by opposing coaches on this one.

&uot;They’re some big ol’ boys,&uot; said CHA senior Luke Townsend, who poured in a game-high 23 points. &uot;I never dreamed they’d be that big. They’re a good ball team. We’re not big, and we try to get the rebound and get it out and run as fast as we can. (The gym) did (affect us) to a certain, but we’ve got to work through that.&uot;

The Cougars really found a rhythm just before halftime and never let up in their execution against the Rebels’ half-court man. They kept getting open layups, second shots and defensive rebounds while staying in a 2-3 zone on the other end to keep Adams from utilizing its height advantage.

Once the Cougars put together a 12-0 run right before halftime, the momentum swayed well in their favor. The Rebels had just four points in the third quarter and four the entire second half &045; two from close range.

&uot;They executed very well,&uot; Adams head coach Kyle Smith said. &uot;When you don’t get a lot of offensive touches, you’ve got to make those shots. I thought we shot poorly at times, and I thought we made some bad decisions at times on offense. After we fell behind in the second quarter, we tried to rush things.

&uot;I told the guys, ‘They’re real patient. We have to have patience to make our offense work.’&uot;

That was what the Cougars probably did the best, and it helped them pull away at the start of the second half after holding a 33-31 lead at the break. Casey Gould hit two free throws at the start to trim the lead to 35-33, but Ken Hubbard put in a basket to start a 11-0 run that came just before Townsend nailed a huge triple off a steal for a 40-33 lead with 5:35 left.

Hubbard scored on a putback with 36 seconds left for a 46-33 lead, and the Cougars led 48-35 heading into the fourth quarter.

&uot;Our man-to-man offense worked really well tonight,&uot; Central Hinds head coach Shelby Watts said. &uot;I thought we were very patient with it. Right at the end (of the game) we got a little bit too impatient with it. This was the first time these guys have played here. I think maybe my three seniors have played a game or two here. You know, strange surroundings.&uot;

Then on the other end the Cougars never budged out of their 2-3 zone defense and at times let the Rebels beat them from the outside, which they did early. But the shots didn’t fall in the second half, and the zone kept the Rebels from getting it inside.

The Rebels hit four 3-pointers in the first half but didn’t heat up from there again until Dustin Case dropped two in midway through the fourth quarter. The two buckets put together an 8-0 AC run that trimmed the deficit to 50-43 with 3:08 left, but no other field goals fell after that.

&uot;We knew they would stay in the zone,&uot; Smith said. &uot;We went over our 2-3 zone offense yesterday. Every time the ball went in the hole, we ran the offense correctly. When it didn’t, I can’t say we didn’t but the ball didn’t go in the hole.

&uot;Give Coach Watts credit, and give his team credit. They went out there and played hard with who they have.&uot;

The Rebels built up a 10-point lead in the first quarter when they canned three 3-pointers and gave Central Hinds trouble defensively. Case hit a bucket with 18 seconds left for a 19-9 lead, and the lead was eight just inside the second quarter when Gould put in a basket for a 21-13 lead.

Foster hit one of two free throws with 3:05 left that put the lead at 29-21 before Central Hinds went on that 12-0 run to take a 33-29 lead.

&uot;We did a pretty decent job out of that 2-3 zone,&uot; Watts said. &uot;I thought we rebounded well, and I thought the kids did a pretty good job getting to the boards.&uot;