COLUMBIA &045; You couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas present than this.

Unless, of course, you’re Columbia Academy.

Trinity Episcopal got a huge 3-pointer with 10 seconds left in regulation to tie it up before the Saints came away with a 63-54 road win over the Cougars to remain undefeated in District 4-AA.

Now they head into the Christmas break tied with Brookhaven Academy before resuming district play Jan. 3 against Amite School Center.

&uot;That was the defending state champions we upset tonight,&uot; Trinity head coach David King said. &uot;It was a great win for us. It was just an all-out defensive battle on our part. They’re a very talented ball club. They have some very good basketball players, and we did enough to win.&uot;

Ware hit the triple late to bring the Saints (4-0, 10-3) back into the game after falling behind 43-40 heading into the fourth quarter. Early in the fourth Columbia big man Dustin Hofer exited with his fifth foul, and the Saints were able to pound away to tie it up and run away with it in overtime.

The Saints, who at times went away from their customary man defense for a zone, outscored Columbia 12-3 in the overtime.

&uot;That was a big part of the game,&uot; King said of Hofer’s departure. &uot;He’s a good-looking player. Our goal was to get him in foul trouble, and Steven (Ridley) did a good job of using his body to get him in foul trouble.&uot;

Ridley led the Saints with 26, while Ware had 20. Travis Pace led the Cougars (2-2, 9-4) with 22.

Natchez 66, Central-BR 62

LAKE CHARLES &045; Natchez High bounced back from the loss Friday night to claim a win over Class 5A Central of Baton Rouge to claim third place in the Cameron State Bank tournament.

The Bulldogs had to rally in the fourth quarter to get the win after trailing 40-30 at halftime. Natchez (8-4) outscored the Wildcats 16-12 in the third to trim the deficit to 52-46 and held a 20-10 edge in the fourth.

Tryon Wilson and Jeremy Houston led Natchez with 18 points apiece.

Franklin 61, SE Lauderdale 48

MERIDIAN &045; The Bulldogs remained hot Saturday with the win at the Meridian tournament, and the scary part is football hasn’t been over that long.

The Bulldogs used a solid first half to build a 36-26 lead before Southeast trimmed the lead to 49-42 heading into the fourth. But Franklin held a 12-6 edge in the fourth to seal it.

Wesley Brown led Franklin with 14 points, while Jonathan Brooks had 13.

B. Green 44, Centreville 41

CENTREVILLE &045; The Buccaneers had to rally in the second half against an upstart Centreville club, who led 25-20 at halftime.

Girls’ games

COLUMBIA &045; Trinity Episcopal’s Lady Saints were in the game at halftime but couldn’t hold on Saturday in dropping a 56-46 decision to Columbia Academy.

The Lady Saints (2-2, 9-5) trailed 30-27 at halftime against a solid Lady Cougar squad before the home team got hot in the second half. Columbia took a 12-9 advantage in the third to lead 42-36 heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter belonged to Columbia, 14-10.

Sierra Massey led with Trinity with 24, while Mallory Archer had 15. Sarah Slater had 21 to lead Columbia.

Franklin County 47, NE Lauderdale 39

MERIDIAN &045; The Lady Bulldogs stayed hot even on the other side of the state Saturday at the Meridian tournament, claiming the win over Northeast Lauderdale.

Franklin (9-1) used a 12-8 edge in the second quarter and 11-8 edge in the third to pull away. The Lady Bulldogs led 8-7 after one, 20-15 at half and 31-23 heading into the fourth quarter.

Victoria Hunt led Franklin County with 23 points.