NATCHEZ &045; Gervoni Ware may be new to the whole rivalry thing with Adams Christian and Trinity Episcopal.

But he knows now.

The speedy little transfer guard at Trinity came up with some big buckets in the fourth quarter as the Saints held off the Rebels in a 59-43 win for their first win over Adams Christian since the crosstown showdown began last season.

Ware picked up the slack from the outside after the Rebels began to take away the Saints’ inside game late in the game.

&uot;We’ve tried to challenge Gervoni,&uot; Trinity head coach David King said. &uot;He’s still getting his feet wet in organized basketball. He has God-given ability. We really think he’s going to be an outstanding player. He’s very unselfish, but we’ve got to have him score.

&uot;We’ve got a lot of role players on this team, and we’re trying to find our identity right now. That’s going to come with practice.&uot;

The Rebels have to do the same with it being so early in the season right now. They closed the gap to five at the start of the fourth quarter after getting buried in the first when some starters got in foul trouble.

The Rebels switched from their man defense to a 2-3 zone, and it opened up opportunities for Ware. He was responsible for nine straight points in a 15-2 run that gave his club all the breathing room it needed.

&uot;We stopped (Stevan) Ridley, and he was hot in the second half,&uot; Adams head coach Kyle Smith said. &uot;We’re still without Dustin Case, and it still hurts. We’re still young. We went to that zone to try and stop Ridley, and (Ware) started hitting from the outside.&uot;

The Rebels trailed by 14 at the end of the first quarter but got it down to 38-33 a minute into the fourth quarter when Casey Gould put in a basket. The Saints then got a huge three-point play from Roy Cheng before Ware drove the lane for a basket, hit a short jumper and then buried a 3-pointer for a 48-33 lead with 5:41 left.

The Rebels got a basket from Ray Simpson to stop the run, but Ware put in another at the 4:01 mark for a 50-35 lead. Ridley then tossed in a basket at the 3:00 mark for a comfortable 53-35 lead.

&uot;I thought they played a great game, and I thought our guys battled,&uot; Smith said. &uot; We cut it down to five, and they went on a little run and took it away from us. They did what they had to do, and they kept us from doing what we had to do.&uot;

The Saints started out blazing with that 20-6 lead by the end of the first quarter before Adams clawed its way back into it. The Rebels cut it to 26-16 at halftime when John Michael Powell put in a basket, and they opened the second half with consecutive buckets from Foster and Ray Simpson to trim the lead to 26-20 with 7:04 left.

But Trinity got a basket from Ridley and a 3-pointer from Ware to put the lead back at double digits at the 5:33 mark.

&uot;I’m impressed with Kyle, and he’s going to be a good coach in this league,&uot; King said. &uot; When Dustin Case gets back, they’re going to be a good double-A team because Dustin is one of the best in the MPSA. We’ve got a ways to go. We’re not basketball players yet, and I blame that on me because I’m a football coach. It takes us three or four weeks each year to get into basketball shape.&uot;

Ridley had the hot hand in the first quarter as he was responsible for 16 of the team’s 20 points. The Rebels got into foul trouble early with Simpson and Gould going to the bench quick, but they got a quick 3-pointer from Simpson to start the second quarter to start getting back on track.

Ridley led the Saints with 24 points, while Ware had 21.

&uot;We got into a lot of foul trouble,&uot; Smith said. &uot;If you take away our mental mistakes that led to silly fouls, our players will be able to play. That just kind of put us in a hole, and we had to dig our way out of it.&uot;

Foster led Adams with 12 points.