VICKSBURG &045; St. Al woke up from its third-quarter slumber just in time to salvage a win against archrival Cathedral.

The Flashes were held scoreless for the first seven minutes of the second half, then carried and 8-0 run into the fourth quarter and beat the Green Wave for the second time this season.

&uot;It doesn’t make up for it, but it helps,&uot; St. Al head coach Drew McBrayer said. &uot;Cathedral is better than a couple of teams we’ve played lately. I think The kids just got up for the rivalry a little more than they normally would.&uot;

Matt Goss had 18 points and nine rebounds for Cathedral (7-11, 3-4), including a pair of 3-pointers in the first minute of the second half. The treys erased a three-point halftime deficit and sparked a 13-0 run that gave Cathedral a 36-26 lead in the third.

St. Al finally scored late in the period, on a pair of free throws by Chris Johnson with 48.8 seconds to play. Marsh Willis added two more free throws and Smith hit a layup at the buzzer to cut it to 36-32.

St. Al regained the lead with about three minutes left and hung on despite poor free throw shooting down the stretch. The Flashes went 1-for-4 from the line in the final minute, including the front end of two one-and-ones.

The misfires allowed Cathedral a final chance to tie the game, but Goss’ 3-pointer was short with 1.7 seconds to go. Burnett hit one of two free throws to make it 50-46 and ice the game.

&uot;We were looking to try and get it inside and missed it,&uot; Cathedral coach Peter Arnold said of Goss’ miss. &uot;There was still about 10 seconds left when we shot. That’s a load of time to get an offensive play.&uot;

&045; Ernest Bowker

Franklin 56, Natchez 45

NATCHEZ &045; When your division games are spread out like full moons, you can’t get too down about a loss.

Natchez High’s Bulldogs remain in the race to claim the Division 6-5A title, but on Friday out of district they struggled offensively in a 56-45 loss to Franklin County. The visiting Bulldogs kept it a half-court game and stuck with a 2-3 zone, and Natchez could neither get it inside nor hit from the outside.

The positives? The game wasn’t a division one.

&uot;Shots weren’t falling,&uot; NHS center Charles Cothern said. &uot;We’re just going to practice hard. We’ve just got to turn the page. We’ve got a district game against Vicksburg, and we’ve just got to turn the page. I think this game will help us in the long run.&uot;

Franklin County (11-6) built up the early lead and held Natchez to just five points in the first quarter before holding on. The visiting Bulldogs kept the pace slow and minimized their turnovers to keep Natchez from running the floor and getting easy layups.

Natchez opened the third quarter with a three-point play from Keyshun Tinsley, but Franklin answered with a Jonathan Brooks 3-pointer to start a 10-2 run that included another Brooks triple.

Brooks finished it off with a bucket at the 2:32 mark for a 36-24 Franklin lead.

Ferriday 56, Vidalia 48

FERRIDAY, La. &045; The Trojans (2-0, 19-7) poured it on with defense in the third quarter, and a 22-point frame gave them plenty of room to breathe.

Ferriday led just 21-20 at half but outscored the Vikings (0-2, 8-15) 22-6 in the third quarter to lead 43-26 heading into the fourth quarter.

Amite 85, Jefferson 80

FAYETTE &045; Amite County blew a 14-point halftime lead, had to hold its breath on a potential game-winning shot near the end of regulation and still was able to hold on for an 85-80 win over Jefferson County.

The Trojans led by as many as 20 points in the first half and took a 46-32 lead into halftime and seemed well on their way to another easy win.

Centreville 52, Trinity 44

CENTREVILLE &045; Free throws proved to be the key factor as the Tigers made 12 of 16 from the line while the Saints made just three of 16 from the line in this MPSA District 4-AA game. Brandon Patin led Centreville (5-13, 3-8) with a game-high 22 points. Zach Rogel led Trinity (14-9) with 18 points.

Wilkinson 54, North Pike 38

WOODVILLE &045; The Wildcats overcame a two-point deficit at the end of the first quarter of this Division 7-3A game by outscoring the Jaguars 15-9 in the second quarter and 17-10 in the third quarter.

Corey Anthony led Wilkinson County (10-12, 3-5) with 23 points.

Tensas 62, Briarfield 49

ST. JOSEPH, La. &045; The Chiefs broke a 22-22 tie at halftime by outscoring the Rebels 21-8 in the pivotal third quarter to take the 13-point win in an MPSA District 7-A game. Tyler White led Tensas (9-8, 5-1) with 22 points and Ryan Borsch had 20.

WCCA 41, Oak Forest 31

AMITE, La. &045; The Rams outscored the Yellow Jackets 14-8 in the second quarter to take a five-point halftime lead, then used a 10-3 advantage in the fourth quarter to take the 10-point win in a non-district game. Greg

Garner led WCCA (11-11) with 12 points.

Delhi 54, Block 35

JONESVILLE, La. &045; This District 4-1A game was close for three quarters, but the visiting Bears put the game away by outscoring the host Bears 21-9 in the fourth quarter to go to 2-0 in district play.

Raphael May led Delhi with 22 points. Reggie Bowie led Block with nine points.