NATCHEZ — The Trinity Episcopal Saints went into Friday night’s MAIS District 6-A game against Tallulah Academy without two of their key players.

R.J. Fleming was out of town and Brandon Daggs may be out for the rest of the season after re-injuring his knee in Tuesday night’s game against Huntington. But on this night, Trinity Episcopal didn’t need them as five players scored in double figures in an 82-58 win over Tallulah Academy.

The Saints got off to a good start against the overmatched Trojans and led 18-10 at the end of the first quarter. Led by Jes Shivers and J.R. Fortenberry, Tallulah Academy did its best to stay in the game and trailed by just 12 points at halftime, 42-30.

But eventually, Trinity Episcopal would pull away from the Trojans in the fourth quarter for the decisive victory. Givonni Dent led Class A’s No. 2 ranked team with 26 points. Jake Winston had a good game and finished with 15 points. Kent King scored 14 points while L.J. Trimble added 12 points and Jordan Dossett ended up with 10 points.

Shivers led the Trojans with 22 points and Fortenberry chipped in with 10 points.

With the win, the Saints improved to 11-6 overall and 6-0 in district play with four games to go. Tallulah dropped to 14-9 overall and 4-2 in the district.

Trinity Episcopal’s home games against Central Private have been canceled. Its games at Briarfield that were originally scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 26 have been moved to Thursday, Jan. 28 with three games starting at 4 p.m. There will be no junior varsity girls game.

Centreville 56, Central Private 41

CENTREVILLE — The Centreville Academy Tigers moved one step closer to locking up the No. 1 seed in next month’s MAIS District 5-AA Tournament with a 15-point win over the Central Private School Rebels Friday night.

Centreville did get off to a slow start and trailed Central Private 11-8 at the end of the first quarter. But the Tigers took control of the game in the second quarter as they outscored the Rebels 18-10 for a 26-21 halftime lead.

The Tigers’ defense put the pressure on the Rebels in a big way in the third quarter, which turned to easy baskets for the home team. Centreville scored 19 points while holding Central Private to a mere six points in that quarter for a 45-29 lead.

Colby Lockwood had a game-high 21 points and Ethan Noland poured in 15 points for Centreville, which improved to 11-5 overall and 5-0 in district play. Lance Wicker led Central Private with 12 points.

Vidalia 70, Avoyelles 67

MOREAUVILLE, La. — Vidalia’s Torrey Dixon led all scorers with 30 points as the third-ranked team in Class 3A held off a furious fourth-quarter comeback to defeat Avoyelles Friday night to remain undefeated in District 3-3A.

Vidalia raced out to a 23-13 lead after one quarter of play and appeared on its way to a blowout win. Instead, the Mustangs hung tough with the Vikings over the next two quarters, giving them a chance to pull off the upset win.

Avoyelles put up 20 points in the fourth quarter, but the Mustangs couldn’t quite make enough key stops on defense as Vidalia (17-4, 4-0) managed to score 10 points. And that proved to be enough to escape with the win.

Quartrell Thomas and Gary Stewart each had 10 points and D.J. Polk added nine points for Vidalia. Ladarius Duskin scored 14 points while Justin Wilson and Jordan Williams had 12 points apiece for Avoyelles.