Led by Tim Thomas and Zac Hutson, the Cougars turned a five-point lead at the end of the first quarter into a 13-point lead at halftime en route to a 42-23 win over the Rebels.

Thomas led Central Hinds with 11 points and Hutson had nine points. Matthew Marks led the Rebels with seven points.

“We’re not a very good basketball team. We’ve got to get better fast,” Rebels first-year head coach Josh Loy said.

Both teams got off to a slow start and Central Hinds led ACCS just 9-4 as the first quarter came to a close. The second quarter, however, belonged to the Cougars, who outscored the Rebels 14-6 for a 23-10 halftime lead.

“We made too many mistakes. We missed too many lay-ups,” Loy said. “They took advantage of our mistakes. We got beat by a better team.”

ACCS girls 67, Central Hinds 26

NATCHEZ — After a tough loss on the road to a good Parklane team in which Ariana DeLaSalle and Katie Anne Swinny fouled out, the ACCS Lady Rebels got back in the win column with a 67-26 win over the Central Hinds Lady Cougars Monday night.

“We played a lot better. We played a pretty good game at Parklane,” Lady Rebels head coach Chuck Bauerle said. “Tonight was kind of a different team. Everybody got to play some. Everybody contributed.”

DeLaSalle and Swinny bounced back to lead ACCS (10-2) with 16 and nine points, respectively. Ten players on the Lady Rebels’ roster ended up scoring at least two points.

ACCS used its press defense right from the start to take Central Hinds right out of its game and never let up. The Lady Rebels led 16-6 after one quarter of play and 33-11 at halftime.

Kelsi Cresap finished with 10 points and Jamie Plunkett had eight points for the Lady Cougars.

Brookhaven Academy boys 57, Trinity 37

JACKSON — With Stevan Ridley out of the lineup due to Thursday night’s MPSA All-Star Football Game, the chances of Trinity defeating Brookhaven Academy were pretty slim.

Trinity, playing its first game of the season after winning the Class A state football title, got off to a good start on both ends of the court and held Brookhaven Academy’s high-powered offense in check. The Saints took a 14-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

And the Saints had no answer for the Cougars’ Corey Dickerson, who scored a game-high 26 points and made seven three-pointers as one of the top teams in Class AA rolled to a 20-point win Monday night at the Hillcrest Tournament.

Matthew Freeman led Trinity (0-1) with 14 points.

Led by Dickerson and T-Boy Lynch, the Cougars responded by outscoring the Saints 18-8 in the second quarter for a 24-22 lead at halftime. The Cougars then put the game away with an 18-3 advantage in the third quarter.

The Saints will take on a team to be determined in a loser’s bracket game Saturday at 2:15 p.m.

Brookhaven Academy girls 58, Trinity 35

JACKSON — The Lady Cougars held Eliza Jones, one of the Lady Saints’ leading scorers, to just two points while Drew Holland Tigner led a balanced scoring attack with 14 points in a 23-point win Monday afternoon at the Hillcrest Tournament.

Brookhaven Academy gave the Lady Saints their first loss of the season after starting with four straight wins. Trinity will play in a loser’s bracket game against a team to be determined Saturday at 1 p.m.

Hannah Watts finished with 12 points as the Lady Cougars took a 15-9 lead after one quarter of play and never looked back. Sandy Hall led the Lady Saints with 12 points.