LAKE PROVIDENCE, La. — A lot was on the line for both of Trinity Episcopal’s varsity basketball teams Thursday night at Riverfield Academy in MPSA District 3-AA action.

For the Lady Saints, a win over the Lady Raiders meant a one-game playoff against Prairie View today for the District 3-AA championship – and determining the district’s No. 1 and No. 2 seeds for next week’s MPSA Class AA South State Tournament at Columbia Academy. For the Saints, a win over the Raiders meant being the District 3-AA champions and the district’s No. 1 seed at South State.

Both teams were able to win their games, but the Lady Saints had a much tougher game than expected as eked out a 39-37 win over the Lady Raiders while the Saints defeated the Raiders 61-44.

Trinity Episcopal girls 39, Riverfield 37

Despite not playing one of their better games of the season, especially at the free-throw line, the Lady Saints were able to pull out a two-point win over the Lady Raiders.

Trinity (23-8, 7-1) won the game by out-scoring Riverfield 13-9 in the fourth quarter. But the Lady Saints could just as easily lost the game after making just two of their 15 free throws during the game. The Lady Raiders, on the other hand, were 10-of-13 from the line, but struggled from the field at times.

Riverfield led Trinity 12-8 at the end of the first quarter, but the Lady Saints outscored the Lady Raiders 11-7 in the second quarter to tie the score at 19-19 at halftime. Riverfield took a two-point lead heading into the fourth quarter before Trinity rallied for the win.

Molly Butts led the Lady Saints with 12 points and Brandy Hall scored 11 points. Claudia Williams led the Lady Raiders with a game-high 14 points and Kelsey Cheek added 11 points.

Both Trinity and Prairie View finished with 7-1 records in District 3-AA and will take on each other in a one-game playoff today at 5:30 p.m. at Riverfield with the district title on the line.

Trinity Episcopal boys 61, Riverfield 44

Riverfield tried its best to stay with Trinity Episcopal in the first half, but the Saints pulled away with an 18-6 advantage in the third quarter en route to the 17-point win that clinched the District 3-AA championship.

Trinity (21-7, 9-1) ranked No. 3 in Class AA, led by five points at the end of the first quarter and increased its lead to eight points at halftime, 35-27.

Kyle King, Logan Moore and Alex Malmay did what they could to keep the Raiders in the game, but the third quarter proved to be the turning point in the game.

Ten players for Trinity wound up in the scoring column. Andrew Johnson led the Saints with a game-high 13 points while Matthew Freeman added 12 points and Brandon Daggs chipped in with eight points. King led Riverfield with 12 points while Moore had 10 points and Malmay had nine points.

ACCS girls 34, River Oaks 33

MONROE, La. — Freshman Kaitlyn Melton went to the free-throw line and made what turned out to be the game-winning free throw with 2.7 seconds left to give the Lady Rebels a one-point win over the Lady Mustangs Thursday night.

With the win, ACCS finished with a 2-6 record in District 3-AA and gained a berth in next week’s MPSA Class AA South State Tournament as the district’s No. 4 seed.

River Oaks had one last chance to win the game, but the Lady Mustangs were not able to get a shot off.

“Both teams were in the double bonus. We played a full-court press. They threw a long pass and Sara Beth Fuller knocked it down and we won the game,” Lady Rebels head coach Paul Hayles said.

But that almost didn’t happen after ACCS blew an eight-point lead after being outscored by River Oaks 14-2 in the third quarter.

“We couldn’t throw it in the ocean at that time,” Hayles said.

ACCS jumped out to a 12-4 lead after one quarter of play and maintained its eight-point lead at halftime before its offense went cold in the third quarter.

Fuller led the Lady Rebels with 11 points while Jessica Moffett scored 10 points and Meagan Cole added nine points. Tess Osbourne led the Lady Mustangs with nine points and Rachel Causey and Abby Herman each finished with eight points.