NATCHEZ — Brandon Daggs scored 17 of his 30 points in the third quarter to give the Trinity Episcopal Saints a win in the finals of the Brookhaven Academy Tournament, 69-61 over Brookhaven on Tuesday.

Daggs sunk two 3-pointers in the third to give the Saints an undeniable lead that Brookhaven would not overcome.

But that’s not to say the Cougars didn’t try.

“We tried to slow the game down a little bit and ride on our lead,” said Trinity assistant coach Kent Knee. “We were trying to take some time on the clock, and Brookhaven was forced to do some fouling. But we only scored 6 out of 21 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.”

Those missed freebies allowed Brookhaven to get back in the game as the Saints scored 14 points and the Cougars scored 23 in the fourth quarter.

But it still wasn’t enough thanks to the explosive third quarter, in which Brookhaven was held to just six points while the Saints put up 26.

“Trinity pressured the ball the entire third quarter and was able to create some turnovers,” Knee said. “It really took Brookhaven out of their game.”

The game was pretty even in the first half, with Trinity scoring 29 and Brookhaven scoring 32.

Givonni Dent scored 11 points and R.J. Fleming added 10 for the Saints en route to the tournament championship.

Jake Reid and Blaine Roberts both put up 15 points for the Cougars.

The two teams will face each other again Saturday in regular season play, starting at 2 p.m.

Trinity girls 54, Silliman Institute 52

Caroline Ketchings scored 27 to help the Lady Saints take the Brookhaven Tournament title Tuesday, but her last two points were the most important of the game.

With the scored tied at 52 and 9 seconds left on the clock, Ketchings drove to the basket for a lay-up.

“She got fouled with 1.4 seconds to go, and she sunk her two free throws to win the game,” said Trinity assistant coach Kent Knee.

Ketchings shot 14-of-20 from the free-throw line Tuesday night.

The Lady Saints and the Lady Wildcats ran a pretty even game for most of the night, with Silliman up 31-25 at halftime.

But Trinity managed to keep the Lady Wildcats down in the third quarter, giving up just four points while scoring 13.

“We pressed, and it worked. We pressed a lot of the game,” Knee said. “The first half we committed 13 fouls, and in the second half we only committed seven.

“(Silliman) got aggressive in the fourth quarter and had 10 fouls, and that kind of kept them from being as successful as they wanted to be.”