PORT GIBSON — Tensas Academy hung tough with Trinity Episcopal in the first half of their boys’ semifinal game Friday night at the District 6-A Tournament at Chamberlain-Hunt Academy.

The problem was the Chiefs could not sustain that in the third quarter and the Saints, with their experience and deep bench, took advantage to turn a surprisingly close game into a 67-51 win to advance to today’s championship game.

Austin Emfinger and Jon Truman James did all they could to give Tensas Academy an opportunity to pull off what would have been a huge upset against top-seeded and second-ranked Trinity Episcopal. The Chiefs trailed by just two points after one quarter and five points at halftime, 28-23.

Emfinger led all scorers with 23 points while James chipped in with 16 points for the fourth-seeded Chiefs. However, only two of their teammates got into the scoring column.

As the second half rolled on, Trinity Episcopal had too many players for Tensas Academy to contain and that, along with some good defense in the third quarter, allowed the Saints to put the game away. They ended up outscoring the Chiefs 23-8 in that quarter for a 51-31 lead.

Givonni Dent led Trinity Episcopal (18-7) with 19 points while R.J. Fleming, L.J. Trimble and Tanner Cage each scored 11 points. The Saints, who have already punched their ticket to next week’s Class A South State Tournament, will take on the winner of the game between No. 3 seed Briarfield and No. 2 seed Tallulah Academy today at 7:45 p.m. in the championship game.

Tensas Academy will take on the loser of that game today at 5:15 p.m. in the third-place game. The winner of the third-place will go on to South State while the loser goes home.

WCCA 73, Central Private 51

CLINTON, La. — Wilkinson County Christian Academy had four players score in double figures, led by Tip McKenzie’s game-high 25 points, as the Rams defeated the Central Private School Rebels in the boys’ semifinals of the District 5-AA Tournament Friday afternoon at Silliman Institute.

Central Private, the No. 3 seed, actually led WCCA, the No. 2 seed, 13-12 after one quarter of play. But that lead didn’t last very long as the Rams outscored the Rebels 21-10 in the second quarter to take command of the game and a 33-23 halftime lead.

“We played better defense and we ran the floor,” Rams head coach Christopher McGraw said.

Luke Whitaker scored 14 points while Darius Hunter had 13 points and Ethan Carruth added 12 points for WCCA (12-9), which will take on No. 1 seed Centreville Academy in a battle of teams from two schools separated by just 15 miles today at 6:45 p.m. in the championship game.

Centreville 73, ACCS 41

CLINTON, La. — The Centreville Academy Tigers continued their dominance of District 5-AA with an easy 32-point win over the Adams County Christian School Rebels Friday night in the second boys’ semifinal game at the district tournament.

Centreville, which went 8-0 to earn the No. 1 seed for the District 5-AA Tournament, pretty much had its way with ACCS for the majority of the ball game. With big games from Colby Lockwood, Brad Jelks and Jamie Dezendorf, the Tigers led 16-9 after one quarter of play and 44-20 when halftime arrived.

Lockwood led all scorers with 27 points while Jelks poured in 15 points and Dezendorf scored 14 points. In addition to taking on WCCA in today’s championship game, Centreville also clinched a berth in the Class AA South State Tournament.

ACCS, the No. 5 seed, had only one player score in double figures – Lee Swinney, who finished with 15 points. Daniel Guedon added nine points. The Rebels will take on No. 3 seed Central Private in the third-place game today at 4:15 p.m. today with the winner moving on to the Class AA South State Tournament.

Natchez High 60, Brookhaven 47

BROOKHAVEN — Joel Davis scored 15 points and Jeremy McMorris chipped in with 13 points to lead a balanced scoring attack for Natchez High as the Bulldogs defeated the Brookhaven Panthers Friday night.

The third quarter proved to be big for Natchez High, which allowed Brookhaven to hang around in the first half and led by just seven points at halftime. The Bulldogs were more aggressive on defense, which was key in them outscoring the Panthers 15-8 to open up a 14-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Natchez High (15-10) also got 10 points from Derrian Johnson. The Bulldogs will be the No. 2 seed in the boys’ side of the Division 6-6A Tournament at Natchez High and will take on No. 3 seed Jim Hill in a first-round game Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.

Monterey 51, Glenmora 49

MONTEREY, La. — In a back-and-forth game that had plenty of momentum shifts, the Monterey Wolves rallied in the fourth quarter to overtake the Glenmora Wildcats Friday night in District 6-B action.

Glenmora took a 10-5 lead at the end of the first quarter, only to see Monterey grab the momentum away in the second quarter. The Wolves outscored the Wildcats 15-9 to take a 20-19 halftime lead. Glenmora went on an unexpected scoring spree in the third quarter and ended up leading Monterey 39-34.

But in the fourth quarter, the Wolves responded and would not be denied victory as the scored 17 points to the Wildcats’ 10 points for the come-from-behind win. Josh Chapman led Monterey (17-10, 4-2) with a game-high 22 points and Cade Crum had 14 points.