NATCHEZ — It was a hard fought battle, but the Cathedral Green Wave struggled late in the fourth quarter and dropped a Region 8-1A contest to Salem 48-39 Friday at home.

Cathedral (4-13, 2-3) came out slow in the first and found themselves down 14-6 early before scoring six straight points to pull within two at the end of the quarter.

The Green Wave tied the Wildcats (4-10, 2-3) in the third quarter but couldn’t get over the hump with poor shooting and rebounding.

“Easy shots are something we couldn’t get tonight,” Cathedral head coach Peter Arnold said. “It’s been the story all year.”

Salem would build up their largest lead of the game in the fourth quarter and held Cathedral to six points in the fourth en route to the victory.

“We were fighting an uphill battle the whole time,” Arnold said. “We had our chances but missed too many shots and free throws.”

Russell Goodman led Cathedral with 13 points while teammate Daniel Huffines added 10.

Justin Lewis, a freshman, scored 23 points to lead Salem.

Cathedral girls 42, Salem 38

The Cathedral Lady Green Wave cut it close but pulled out a four-point win over the Salem Lady Wildcats 42-38 at home Friday in a Region 8-1A game.

The Lady Green Wave (6-10, 3-2) had a secure 24-12 lead at the half but struggled on offense in the third and allowed the Lady Wildcats to pull within five at the end of the third.

Cathedral fought Salem throughout the fourth quarter though and held on to their lead to take the win.

“We needed a good district win,” Cathedral head coach Kathy Graning said. “I thought we looked better tonight than we had in our previous two games.”

Ginny Daggett led the way for Cathedral with 18 points while Ana Perry also scored in double digits with 11.

Sandreneka Slocum scored 14 for Salem and Tiffany Turner added 10.