Both Trinity Episcopal-Centreville contests have gone down to the wire this season, and that may make for an interesting game tonight.

But life in District 4-AA goes much, much deeper than that.

It’s about playing your best, scrapping every night on the floor and leaving it all on the court when the final buzzer sounds. You can bet both teams will do that when they tip off at 6:15 p.m. today at Bowling Green, but it may be an indication of things to come as district tournaments begin today for MPSA schools in the Miss-Lou.

&uot;The thing about our district is the No. 7 seed just as easily could be the No. 2 seed,&uot; Trinity head coach Melanie Hall said. &uot;The No. 2 seed could easily be No. 6. You’ve got Brookhaven up there, and on any given night anything can happen. The rest are pretty evenly matched at different times. Every night out you have to battle, and I think that’s going to help us. Every night we hit the floor we’ve had to battle.&uot;

Everyone from Brookhaven Academy below has been evenly matched this season, but some at times made the dominant Lady Cougars earn their wins. That may be the same this week as every team enters the tournament playing their best ball in a do-or-die situation today.

Of the three first-round games, the season will end for the loser and the winner is guaranteed at least a spot in the South State tournament.

&uot;We’re ready as we’re going to be,&uot; Centreville head coach Penny Sawyer said. &uot;We’ve got to go over there and play ball. We finished the season strong. My little girls are finally playing. We were so late getting started, and they’re playing better as a team. If they play their best game tomorrow, they should do well. We’re looking forward to it.&uot;

The matchup today at Bowling Green may be the most interesting one today after both teams battled down to the wire in each game before coming up with a split in the series. Centreville fought back in the fourth quarter to win at home over Trinity, and the Lady Saints had to get a big 3-pointer from Mallory Archer in the game’s final seconds to take the win in Natchez.

Both teams should match up well with a number of solid perimeter shooters &045; Archer and Eliza Jones for the Lady Saints and Kelly Simpson and Brittany Boatner for the Lady Tigers.

&uot;When Centreville has played us, I feel they’ve played their best game &045; and Coach Sawyer said that,&uot; Hall said. &uot;We seem to do that to people &045; bring out their best in people. They’re a scrappy group. That last time we played them was their Senior Night.&uot;

The Lady Tigers, however, had their ups and downs since then and throughout the season. They lost the next day out to Silliman, the No. 7 seed in the tournament, to finish the regular season but have played well up until that Trinity game.

&uot;Trinity is a tough team,&uot; Sawyer said. &uot;It’s going to be a good ball game, I think. We shall see. I like Melanie, and we’ll give it all we’ve got. My biggest problem is slowing my girls down. They get to running so fast and causing turnovers, but they’ve been working on that.&uot;

The contest is the only one today in the girls’ half of the bracket. Games Wednesday include Silliman against No. 2 seed Columbia and No. 5 seed Bowling Green against No. 4 Oak Forest.

Brookhaven will play the Bowling Green-OFA winner Friday.

&uot;From the beginning, this is what you work hard for all year,&uot; Hall said. &uot;Like I always said &045; this might go against what others think &045; but regardless of what the scoreboard says, if you give it your best, that’s all you can do. You take it and get better the next time you get on the floor. We’re going to have a lot of fun.&uot;

Adams Christian

The Lady Rebels’ regular-season title in District 3-AA will have them sitting until Friday, which could be a bad thing. But with the way they’re battling illnesses and injuries, it may be welcomed with open arms.

Shooting guard Katie Ann Swinny didn’t dress out for practice Monday after playing about three minutes in Saturday’s loss to Brookhaven. Laura Guedon is nursing a sore hamstring.

&uot;I think they’re better today &045; they’re taking heavy antibiotics,&uot; AC head coach John R. Gray said. &uot;Katie Ann is going back to the doctor (today). I think the rest of them are OK if they don’t catch it from her. They say whatever is going around can be real dangerous. I had it, and I still haven’t gotten over it.&uot;

The Lady Rebels have the No. 1 seed in the tournament at their place, and they’ll face the winner of the Copiah-Prairie View contest at 6:30 p.m. Friday. Copiah is the only team to hand Adams a loss in district, but they Lady Rebels avenged that with a win at home in the second meeting.

&uot;After that first round, there’s not a big difference in any of that group,&uot; Gray said. &uot;Any of those four can win.&uot;

WCCA

The Lady Rams played well throughout district and come into today’s District 6-A opener against host team Union Academy.