NATCHEZ &045; Trinity will have its hands full.

The Saints (12-4, 5-0) will face Brookhaven Academy (16-1, 5-0) in a matchup between two undefeated teams in District 4-AA tonight in Brookhaven.

&uot;It’s a challenge all right, facing the No. 1 team in the state. They have a great basketball program, but so do we,&uot; Trinity head coach David King said. &uot;It’ll just be two traditionally great programs getting after it.&uot;

As if having to face Brookhaven wasn’t enough, Trinity will also be without the services of starting point guard Gervoni Ware, who was ruled academically ineligible. The Saints are already without senior center Robert Manson who was ruled ineligible because of guidelines concerning foreign students.

So it’s down to sophomore Stevan Ridley, who has been like a bull in a china shop all season forcing his way through opposing defenses, using his size and strength to make big plays for the Saints.

He’ll need some help from the rest of the team, particularly players like Roy Cheng, Wyatt Craig and Zach Rogel, the teams’ three seniors.

&uot;We’re used to this, really. Last year we went to the state playoffs with a team of role players, so they’ll just have to step up and play some defense,&uot; Kings said.

John Davis King, Tripp Bryant and Kris Ford will all be called on to help fill in for Ware’s absence in the backcourt, King said.

In any case, it should be a tough game.

&uot;We’re looking forward to it,&uot; King said. &uot;No one expects us to win. I just hope the boys can handle the pressure.&uot;

Trinity also has a tough test Saturday when the Saints face Bowling Green, another strong team in the district.

&uot;This is a weekend we had circled on the calendar for a long time,&uot; King said.

Pelahatchie at Cathedral

Cathedral is homestanding this weekend with Pelahatchie Friday and West Lincoln coming Saturday.

For the Green Wave, it will be an important weekend that could swing Cathedral’s fortunes in district play

&uot;These are some big district games,&uot; Cathedral head coach Peter Arnold said. &uot;We’re just lucky to have them both at home.&uot;

Pelahatchie is something of an unknown quantity for Arnold. He said he knows they have a talented big man and they prefer to play either a 1-3-1 or 2-3 zone on defense, but he hasn’t seen them play this year.

Arnold said his team will not do anything differently to defend in the post against Pelahatchie.

&uot;We’ll just stick with our man-to-man (defense). It’s better for rebounding,&uot; Arnold said. &uot;We’ll just have to help out on their big man.&uot;

After a slow start to the season, the Green Wave has played much better in recent weeks, winning several games and even looking good in a loss to the Mississippi School for the Deaf.

&uot;We’re just going to try to build off the momentum we’ve had, some games we’ve won lately,&uot; Arnold said. &uot;We lost to MSD, but we played well. I think we’re going to do well.&uot;

Natchez at Warren Central

The Bulldogs took the day off from practice Thursday to prepare to face the Vikings tonight, but they should be ready tonight.

&uot;We get a day off to get some rest,&uot; forward Rodney Gray said.

In the first meeting between the two teams, Natchez got a statement win with an 80-47 stomping of Warren Central.

Things might be a little tougher this time around, particularly with the Bulldogs facing a trip up to Vicksburg, but Natchez (11-5, 2-0) should get another win over the Vikings (7-8, 0-2) and go to 3-0 in district play.