MONTEREY — Friday night’s semifinal matchup between Cathedral and Delhi Charter at the Monterey Tournament wasn’t exactly a game of two halves.

Instead, it showed how much of a difference just one quarter can make.

Down by six points at halftime, Cathedral was searching for a way to get back in the game. And the Green Wave did so with a smothering defense in the third quarter that eventually resulted in a 50-41 come-from-behind win to advance to today’s championship game.

“It was a matter of, in the first half, they outhustled us and in the second half we outhustled them,” Cathedral head coach Peter Arnold said. “In the third quarter we just shut them down. That was the turning point in the game.”

Delhi Charter led Cathedral 30-24 and the way the first half went it looked like the Gators were on their way to a 5-1 records and a spot in the finals. But the Green Wave went to a different defensive alignment that gave the Gators all sorts of problems during the third quarter. So much so that Delhi Charter missed every shot from the field and its only point was from the free-throw line.

“They outhustled us in the first half. They were getting after loose balls. They were killing us on the offensive rebounds,” Arnold said. “(In the third quarter) they got frustrated and started taking bad shots.”

Cathedral outscored Delhi Charter 14-1 in the momentum-swinging third quarter to take a 38-31 lead and then made sure the Gators would not have a rally of their own with a 12-10 edge in the fourth quarter.

“They were a strong, athletic team. Probably the strongest, most athletic team we’ve faced this season,” Arnold said.

Caleb Upton led the Green Wave with 14 points and Collin Hammons added 12 points. Buford Dean led Delhi Charter (4-2) with a game-high 16 points.

Cathedral (3-3) will play in the boys’ finals at 2:30 p.m. today.

Wingfield 87,

Natchez High 54

JACKSON — Darius Foster and Timothy Spencer led a balance scoring attack with 15 and 14 points, respectively, as the Wingfield Falcons cruised to a 33-point win over the Natchez High Bulldogs in both teams’ Division 6-6A opener.

Wingfield, one of the top teams in all of Class 6A, took control of this game and with the exception of the third quarter had its way with a young Natchez High squad. By the time the first quarter was over, the Falcons had a 23-10 lead and were never challenged after that.

Trevon Chatman led Natchez High (1-5, 0-1) with a game-high 22 points. However, he was the only Bulldogs player to score in double figures. Davante Green was the next high scorer with seven points.

Natchez High hosts Jefferson County at 7:30 p.m. today.