NATCHEZ &8212; All things considered, Billy Jones had reason to be worried when his club entered the gym against Adams Christian.

For the first time since Friday night, the Amite School Center coach saw standout post player Brittany Carroll in her cast after she broke a bone in her arm Friday night at Prentiss Christian. And Jones was also in attendance Saturday night when Adams missed its chance at the end to knock off a solid Parklane team.

Adams Christian took a big lead early Monday night over Amite en route to a 56-30 win. And AC&8217;s Lady Rebels didn&8217;t appear to have any letdown after losing to the Lady Pioneers by one point.

&8220;I told Mr. John (Gray) I stayed just to see that,&8221; Jones said. &8220;That was a very good game. I think it surprised a lot of people. I was surprised to see how well they handled Parklane&8217;s inside game. But I felt Adams had as good a shot at them as anybody would.

&8220;We played Mr. John earlier in the year, and I knew then he had a good team. I feel like he&8217;s got a team capable of going a long way in their class.&8221;

The loss Saturday night may have never felt so good, and it may have validated Adams Christian as a legitimate threat in Class AA this season. The team has rolled to a 9-2 start despite losing to Centreville in the opening week of the season and nearly beat the toughest team on the schedule so far.

There&8217;s still plenty more tough opponents ahead &8212; namely the entire District 3-AA schedule. But that loss may have done wonders for a team that many folks thought was pretty good.

&8220;We finally proved to ourselves that we can play to our level,&8221; said junior Katie Ann Swinny, who led all scorers with 20 points. &8220;We were always bringing ourselves down to the other team&8217;s level. We decided we&8217;re not going to do that anymore. We were a little shaky (tonight), but we&8217;re getting there. Even though we lost (Saturday), we were so proud of ourselves with the way we played.&8221;

The biggest thing Monday night, however, was there was no letdown or dead legs at the beginning after playing so hard on the defensive end two nights earlier. Amite struggled on offense without Carroll down on the block, but many times that didn&8217;t matter.

Adams Christian kept things in a full-court game at the start, got some steals and jumped ahead to a 21-11 lead by the end of the first quarter.

&8220;I really expected us to be real flat,&8221; Gray said. &8220;We played so hard, and they told me they were still sore. I felt we could do that (defensively) especially without their post player. We put the press on them and played our man. But we kind of slowed down again. It bothers me that we seem to get comfortable and not play hard. We&8217;ve got to start making better decisions and stop turning over the basketball.&8221;

From there Adams Christian stayed in its man defense and expanded the lead, although it came at a slower pace in the second quarter. Gray didn&8217;t like how his bunch struggled to put it in the hole in the second quarter from the field with only two buckets in the first seven minutes.

But neither could Amite, and the visiting Lady Rebels had to compensate for the loss of Carroll in the middle. Jones rotated seven girls most of the game and had another player unable to suit up for the game.

&8220;Hopefully we&8217;ll have (Carroll) back before we get into district,&8221; Jones said. &8220;That&8217;s what I told them in the beginning &8212; we&8217;ve got two players coming in to fill her spot, and they have little experience. We&8217;ve got to help them. They&8217;ve got to get them confident on the floor. They&8217;ve had limited playing time but not four quarters.&8221;

Adams led 31-16 at halftime and got back on track offensively in third quarter to put the game away. Swinny&8217;s converted a three-point play at the 4:34 mark and later put in bucket underneath off an in-bounds pass for a 39-19 lead.

Swinny had 12 points in the qurter, including a jumper from just inside the 3-point line as the buzzer sounded to give her club a 46-22 lead.