NATCHEZ &8212; It all goes back to the reason their coach said they should play basketball in the first place.

And after a disappointing loss Friday night on the road, Trinity head coach Melanie Hall used the opportunity to drive home those three points again. If you&8217;re not playing hard, playing smart or having fun, then what&8217;s the point of being out there on the floor?

Bingo, bingo, bingo. Less than 24 hours removed from a 42-34 loss at Oak Forest for their first loss in 4-AA, the Lady Saints upset Columbia Academy 49-36 Saturday to hand the Lady Cougars their first district loss and only fourth defeat of the season.

The other three losses? They came at the hands of Presbyterian Christian, Jackson Prep and Parklane.

&8220;That&8217;s what they did tonight,&8221; said Hall of her three keys to basketball. &8220;Everybody from 1 to 13 did a terrific job. I can&8217;t say enough about our togetherness. That was the whole team. It was a great team effort, and the girls did it. I give them all the credit.&8221;

It would be tough to deliver credit to any one area of the floor since so many players stepped up with key baskets, solid rebounds or low-post defense against the Cougars&8217; post players of Taryn Magee and Sarah Slater.

Yet Laura Jo Hurt hit a huge basket on a putback between two defenders late in the third, and Courtney Timm had another big basket on a putback to help the Lady Saints take a 35-27 lead into the fourth quarter.

Then Mallory Archer canned a 3-pointer to start the fourth and put the lead in double-digits for the first time.

Magee finished with 16 points, but some of it came on putbacks before fouling out with just over three minutes left in the game. Slater had just four, and the Lady Saints&8217; defense took away Columbia&8217;s penchant for the lob pass inside to Slater and Magee.

&8220;That&8217;s the worst (we) played all year,&8221; Columbia head coach Reid McCay said. &8220;But defense has something to do with that. We just didn&8217;t get it (inside) and didn&8217;t move the ball well. A failure to execute was the problem we were having tonight.&8221;

Magee hit two quick buckets to start the second half and tie the score at 19 before Archer hit a 3-pointer from the corner and a 2- pointer to give the Lady Saints the lead. Brandy Hall then hit a 3-pointer a minute later that put the lead at 27-21.

Ferriday 76, Block 70

FERRIDAY &8212; With center Jasmine Upchurch out for most of the fourth quarter with foul trouble and Block making a furious rally, someone had to step up for Ferriday in the fourth quarter.

That someone was Kiawana McDowell, who scored a game-high 25 points and made some key shots late to give the Lady Trojans the win and the Ferriday tournament crown.

&8220;Jasmine wasn&8217;t in there to stop their inside game,&8221; FHS head coach Lisa Abron said. &8220;Some other kids should have stepped up defensively, but they didn&8217;t. It came down to who wanted it the most, and luckily we won the game. Kiawana was my MVP. She hit a couple of shots in the last two or three minutes that put the nail in their coffin.&8221;

In its toughest game since a loss at Jefferson County on Nov. 18, Ferriday (11-1) appeared to have taken control of the game in the third quarter thanks to a tenacious defense that held Block (8-5)

The Lady Trojans outscored the Lady Bears 17-5 to take a 55-36 lead going into the fourth. But with Upchurch out, the Bears went to a full-court defense, making it tough on the Lady Trojans.

Led by Ashley Green, Corinthia Green and Shante Beard, Block put up 34 points in the fourth quarter, but McDowell came up big for the Lady Trojans and ended the comeback attempt.

&8220;They hit a number of 3-pointers and layups,&8221; Abron said. &8220;They pressured us defensively. We had problems getting the ball inbounds. We had a lot of turnovers. They hit three 3-pointers. That and the turnovers got them back in the game.&8221;

Ashley Green led Block with 18 points.

Tensas Academy 81, Central 25

ST. JOSEPH &8212; Whitney Alford led four Tensas players in double figures with a game-high 19 points. Tabitha Howard and Kaitlyn Emfinger had 15 points each and Megan Bauerle had 14 points.

Unlike their game against Huntington a night earlier, the Lady Pioneers were not able to stay close with the Lady Chiefs (13-3) in the first half. The visitors found themselves trailing 22-7 after one and 45-13 at half.