PELAHATCHIE &8212; Just in case you missed the first one, there&8217;s going to be another Trinity Episcopal-Adams Christian matchup in girls&8217; basketball now.

Same time, same day. Only different place.

And there may be such a thing as both teams are playing better than they were one week ago when the Lady Rebels took the win.

Adams Christian was about flawless in a 71-44 win over Bayou Academy, and Trinity followed it up with a 45-36 win over Simpson Academy Wednesday at East Rankin Academy. The two will meet again with the winner advancing to the Class AA state championship game.

With the wins, both clinched spots at next week&8217;s MPSA Overall tournament.

&8220;I&8217;ll tell you what &8212; it would be very difficult to beat Trinity a second time,&8221; Adams head coach John R. Gray said. &8220;We knew that. Trinity is a very good ball team, and we played right the first time. What&8217;s good about it is we&8217;re both going to Overall. You don&8217;t want to play Trinity a second time.&8221;

The win clinched the Lady Saints&8217; first appearance at Overall since the 2000-01 season and will mark a fitting ending for their group of seniors. But there&8217;s more at stake, and that&8217;s another shot at Adams Christian in a bonus edition of the crosstown showdown.

&8220;We&8217;re excited to play anybody,&8221; Trinity head coach Melanie Hall said. &8220;That is a privilege. What can I say? Every day is an opportunity. This gets us to Overall. We&8217;re going to go out and fight and give it our best shot.&8221;

Adams Christian 71, Bayou Academy 44

The Lady Rebels (26-7) showed just how right things can go for a team that&8217;s done plenty of that in recents weeks. The shots fell from the outside, they had the edge in rebounding and the defense created havoc early for Bayou.

Adams led 23-9 at the end of the first and 42-22 at half.

&8220;We played probably our best game of the year today,&8221; Gray said. &8220;They all played well offensively and defensively. We came out, pressed them and shot the ball real well. They threw it away a lot. (On offense) the girls were able to make outlet passes on rebounds and run on them. They played so well from then on.&8221;

The Lady Rebels then led 59-26 heading into the fourth quarter en route to their highest-scoring game of the season. Four players finished in double figures in scoring with Katie Ann Swinny leading the way with 19. Ariana DeLaSalle had 10 rebounds and 13 points.

Trinity 45, Simpson Academy 36

Against a team like Simpson, it all came down to defense for the Lady Saints. And that&8217;s no problem, since that&8217;s been a big reason why they&8217;re still playing at this point and will go on next week to Overall.

Simpson standout Kate Hubbard had 14 points, but she fouled out late in the game and Trinity&8217;s defense made her work for her points. The Lady Saints pulled away after claiming an 18-16 lead at half.

&8220;It&8217;s real short and sweet &8212; when you use the talents and abilities that God gave you to the best of your ability, good things happen,&8221; Hall said. &8220;To God be the glory. That&8217;s exactly what happened. We played man, and the girls really helped out and did a good job of moving their feet. They didn&8217;t get many easy looks tonight.&8221;

The Lady Saints pulled away in that second half and led by as many as 12. They outscored Simpson 13-9 in the third to lead 31-25 heading into the fourth quarter.

Mallory Archer led Trinity with 17 points. Brandy Hall had 13.

&8220;The second half we executed our offenses beautifully,&8221; Melanie Hall said. &8220;They were mixing it up zone and man (on defense). But we were taking the high-percentage shot in the second half.&8221;