The Wilkinson County Christian Academy boys have to be feeling good right now.

After starting the season slow, the Rams went 11-1 in District 6-A to take the No. 1 seed heading into the district tournament Tuesday.

At a smaller school like WCCA, many of the players go straight from playing football to basketball without much time to adjust.

&uot;I came straight from football as did most of our team. Four days after the last football game we played our first game,&uot; WCCA coach Ray Olive said. &uot;It just took a little while to get out of one mode and into another and get the team playing together. I think we’re at that point at this time.&uot;

But since those early struggles &045; part of which could be attributed to a tough non-district schedule &045; the Rams have hit their stride.

WCCA, which has a first-round bye, will play the winner of an opening round game between No. 4 seed Amite School Center and No. 5 seed Ben’s Ford Friday at 7:30 p.m. If the Rams win that game, they’ll play in the championship game Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

&uot;We have the No. 1 seed, now we just have to wait and see who we get,&uot; Olive said. &uot;Once you get in a tournament it’s a whole new season. We’re confident but not overconfident, we’re still working hard and trying to get better.&uot;

Should everything fall according to the seeds, WCCA would meet Prentiss Christian in the championship game. Prentiss is the only team in the district that beat WCCA.

&uot;If it falls like the season did, we’ll have an opportunity to play them again,&uot; Olive said. &uot;But it’s been my experience that there’s always an upset somewhere, so we’re just going to take things one game at a time like we have all year.&uot;

The Rams three-headed attack with outside shooter Greg Garner and inside with Lavalle Johnson and Eli Ashley, two of the district’s premier defenders, should be tough to beat in the tournament.

&uot;With Eli and Lavalle both in there, it’s a pretty tough defense,&uot; Olive said. &uot;Greg’s an excellent shooter &045; when he’s hot he’s tough to defend.&uot;

INSIDE PRESENCE &045; Casey Gould’s timing couldn’t be any better for the Adams Christian Rebels.

The big man inside has had his struggles at times catching the ball and following through in traffic, but he came up big both Friday and Saturday against some quality clubs. On Friday Gould delivered with 15 in a win over Parklane, and Saturday he came through with 26.

Both were team-highs, and both times the offense did what head coach Kyle Smith has been asking for all season &045; operate the offense inside-out.

&uot;I try to take my time more often,&uot; Gould said. &uot;I missed a couple of easy ones (Friday). I’ve just got to take my times. Sometimes when I get the ball I get nervous. We worked the offense inside-out. They had some size on us, but we had to crash the boards.&uot;

The Rebels have relied on Timmy Foster for scoring around the basket for most of the season, and Gould has contributed big at times. But his contributions kept both Parklane and Brookhaven from putting their main defensive emphasis on shooters Dustin Case and Clay Floyd.

Case had 22 against Brookhaven and 11 against Parklane.

&uot;Casey had a big game (Friday),&uot; Smith said. &uot;He was a little under the weather, but he’s doing well and is starting to realize he can play bigger than what he’s been doing. He’s a vital part of the team. When he wants to play, he really plays hard. He’s still a vital part of this team &045; as are all the players on this team.&uot;

The offense worked well both games, and the Rebels are hoping to carry that into the district tournament this week at home. One win would put them in the South State championship, which will also be at ACCS.

Said Gould: &uot;I don’t think we had a 3-pointer the whole game. We were really patient. I don’t know what to say, but I’m just glad we won. We’ve just got to be patient &045; that’s all. We’ve had 20 turnovers a game. That’s why we lose.&uot;

WHAT IN THE WORLD? &045; The standings in District 3-AA don’t make much sense, but that’s how it goes sometimes where everybody is about as close to even as possible.

Adams Christian enters this week’s tournament as the lowest seed at No. 6 with a 2-8 record in the regular season, but the Rebels played everyone in the district tough.

&uot;We realize we could have finished higher in the mix had we played well at times, but we’ll live with sixth place,&uot; Smith said. &uot;The guys are talking about winning a district championship, and I think it is attainable with the way our district is. All the teams are pretty even in the district, and that causes for a lot of excitement. We may not have the best district, but we have a competitive district.&uot;

The Rebels will start Tuesday against Riverfield, a team that beat them twice during the regular season. But the Rebels had the Raiders beat on one occasion before letting it slip away at the end.

Now it’s crunch time. A loss would put the South State tournament starting next week at the ACCS gym without the Rebels.

&uot;We’re just ready for Riverfield,&uot; Gould said. &uot;We’ve got to win that game. We can’t beat any district teams. We’ve just got to be patient. As long as we cut down on our turnovers, we’ll be in good shape.&uot;

Said Smith &uot;(Parklane) was just a good win for us. We’ve got to focus on our goal, which is to win Tuesday. The guys are really excited about play Riverfield.&uot;

STARTING TIME &045; To hear Natchez coach Sue Johnson talk about it, there might as well not even be a starting lineup.

&uot;The starting lineup doesn’t mean a thing to me,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;I’ll change the lineup &045; what’s the shortest amount of time? &045; in 0.1 seconds flat.&uot;

It simply doesn’t matter who starts for the Lady Bulldogs because 10 or 11 players are probably going to get significant minutes on any given night as Johnson shuffles players in and out, as she did in a 67-45 win over Vicksburg Tuesday night.

&uot;I just looked at the bench, saw a need, went with that need,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;When I needed speed, when I needed rebounding, when I needed the most aggressive defense, I went with that.&uot;

Against Vicksburg, both of Natchez’ low-post threats, Jasmine Woods and Delequa Drake, were in the starting lineup to give the Lady Bulldogs more size and rebounding.

&uot;The lineup’s been changing game to game depending on who we’re playing,&uot; Natchez’ Jasmine Woods said. &uot;We just go with what works for each game.&uot;

So far, it’s working. The Lady Bulldogs (4-2, 13-8) are in second place in Division 6-5A.

Sports editor

Adam Daigle

contributed to this report.