NATCHEZ &045; Trinity head coach Melanie Hall still can’t help but smile about where her club’s at right now.

And there have been some tough times, but the Lady Saints have continued to play hard. They kept fighting and never went away until about the last 30 seconds Tuesday night in a 65-59 loss to Columbia Academy.

The Lady Cougars won the first meeting 56-46, and the Lady Saints (6-4, 15-8) will keep playing hard with the district tournament looming in just over two weeks at Bowling Green.

&uot;I am so proud of this group of girls,&uot; Hall said. &uot;It’s exciting. Every day we come out on the floor we have fun, and that’s what it’s all about. The girls are great. There were times in that game we’d get down 10 and come back. We thank God for the opportunity to play every night.&uot;

The Lady Cougars (5-2, 15-6) had leads of 12, eight and nine get whittled down to two points each time, but Trinity just couldn’t get over the hump. The Lady Saints’ outside shooting kept the game, and Eliza Jones nailed a bucket with 3:05 left in the game to trim the lead to 57-55.

After Columbia got a basket from Sarah Slaten, Trinity got two free throws from Mallory Archer at the 2:15 mark to put the difference back at two. Columbia then tried to go into post player Taryn Magee &045; who finished with 34 points &045; on the next trip down, but Suzannah Ketchings blocked her shot to give Trinity an opportunity to take the lead.

But the shot didn’t fall, and Columbia got two free throws from Lindsey Beaird before Kristyn McDaniel’s three-point play at the 1:05 mark all but sealed for a 64-57 lead.

&uot;I felt (Magee) camped in the lane, but the girls fought hard,&uot; Hall said. &uot;We weren’t going to let (Slaten) beat us. She’s been averaging 20 points in the district, and she didn’t hurt us much at all. We tried to 2-3 zone (on Magee), and we tried doubling her. She just played real well.&uot;

Trinity trailed 30-19 late in the second quarter and 34-24 at halftime, but Mallory Archer hit a 3-pointer at the start to spark a 13-4 run to get back in the game. Archer, who finished with 31 points, converted a three-point play with 3:22 left to cut the deficit to 38-36.

Cathedral 34, Monterey 31

NATCHEZ &045; Caitlin Huffines scored just three points, but she hit the two biggest free throws of her career with just eight seconds left to help give the Cathedral Lady Green Wave a win over Monterey.

&uot;That’s going to do a lot for our confidence,&uot; CHS head coach Kathy Graning said. &uot;It’s starting to sink in for them that they can win these games.&uot;

With Cathedral (3-14) clinging to a 32-31 lead, Huffines was fouled and made the clutch free throws. After that, it was up to the defense to preserve the win.

Led by Mattie Smith and Kristian Dobard, the Lady Green Wave got off to a good start as their man-to-man defense helped them take a 10-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 20-11 lead at halftime.

Wilkinson 61, Jefferson 34

FAYETTE &045; Wilkinson County coach Edwin White had plenty of superlatives for his team after the Lady Wildcats (15-5, 6-1) beat Jefferson County (4-16, 1-7) 61-34.

&uot;We did everything correct, everything was right, and this is the time of season you want to do that,&uot; White said. &uot;We’ve won five in a row and that’s good right now. We want to get a good seed for the district tournament. I’m very pleased with how our team is doing.&uot;

The Lady Wildcats had a 30-13 lead at halftime and didn’t look back, outscoring the Lady Tigers 31-21 in the second half.

Latasha Williams had 20 for Wilkinson.

Tensas 75, River Oaks 28

ST. JOSEPH, La. &045; Tensas took a commanding 25-7 lead over River Oaks (10-8, 3-2) after one quarter of play and then took a 42-13 lead at halftime. The Lady Chiefs didn’t let up much in the second half as they outscored the Lady Mustangs a combined 33-15.

Franklin 74, Port Gibson 52

MEADVILLE &045; The latter part of the second quarter and the third quarter turned out to be the turning point in this key Division 7-3A game for both teams as the Lady Bulldogs pulled away for the 22-point win.

Victoria Hunt finished with a game-high 30 points. Ashley Weathersby had a solid game for the Lady Bulldogs (14-3, 5-1) with 13 points and Shareka Hunt had 12.

LPHS 66, Ferriday 49

FERRIDAY, La. &045; Ferriday (17-5, 0-1) was only down by six points, 14-8, at the end of the first quarter. Jameca Garrison led the Lady Trojans with 19 points and Ashley Atkins had 13.

Block 63, Newellton 55

JONESVILLE, La. &045; Block (9-7, 2-0) led just 28-27 at halftime, but outscored Newellton (0-1 in 4-1A) 17-13 in the third quarter and 18-15 in the fourth quarter.

Amite 61, WCCA 22

WOODVILLE &045; The Lady Rebels took control of this MPSA District 6-A game soon after the opening tip as they jumped out to a 24-3 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Huntington 50, Tallulah 30

FERRIDAY &045; The Lady Hounds (12-9, 4-1) jumped out quickly in the game, building a 24-13 lead at halftime.

Erin Hedrick had 15 points to lead Huntington. C. Crow led Tallulah with 12 points.