NATCHEZ — The Adams County Christian School girls’ basketball team fought a back-and-forth battle with Centreville Academy Saturday evening for more than three-and-a-half quarters of action.

At the end of each of the first three quarters only one point separated the two teams — ACCS led by one point at the end of the first and third quarters, while Centreville led by one at halftime.

But in the end foul trouble for the Lady Tigers and a few crucial baskets for the Lady Rebels was enough to allow ACCS to pull away late in the fourth quarter and win 49-42 in the non-district matchup.

“We put ourselves in position to win the game,” ACCS head coach Melanie Hall said. “It was an ugly win but it was a ‘W.’ To God be the glory, and I thank God for the opportunity to play and for the win.”

The game did have its ugly moments. Both teams struggled to convert layups, turnovers were an issue on both sides of the floor and at times the game was physical.

Centreville head coach John Gray said his team’s biggest problem was keeping girls on the floor. The Lady Tigers had five players with at least four fouls by the end of the game.

“Fouls were our problem,” he said. “We’re not very deep.”

Gray said injuries are also playing a role in his team’s lack of depth this season.

For the Lady Rebels the struggles came on offense as they failed to convert several easy scoring opportunities.

“If I had the answer to (why we missed layups tonight) I’d be a gazillionaire,” Hall said. “It’s very uncharacteristic of this team, but some nights the ball doesn’t go in the hole, and on those nights you have to play good defense.”

Hall said her team’s defense played well enough to overcome its offensive deficiencies.

“I thought at times we did a good job on defense,” she said. “But in the first half we made two crucial mistakes when we were up six or eight. We made back-to-back mistakes and they capitalized for a four-point swing and you could feel the momentum shift.”

That momentum propelled Centreville to a 25-24 lead at halftime.

ACCS was able to make one more basket than the Lady Tigers in the third quarter to lead 35-34 at the end of the third. The two teams continued to trade baskets for much of the fourth quarter before ACCS pulled away late for the seven-point win.

Centreville’s Katie Berry led all scorers with 21 points in the game.

Tory Laird’s 17 points and Brandis Whites 13 points led the way for the Lady Rebels, and Nikki Worthy added seven points and pulled down 12 rebounds for ACCS.

Both teams will face Trinity Episcopal in their next games. Centreville will travel to play the Lady Saints Monday, and ACCS will visit the Lady Saints Tuesday.

Centreville boys 46, ACCS 33

Centreville Academy’s 16-8 scoring margin over Adams County Christian School in the fourth quarter was the difference in their matchup Saturday night at ACCS.

The Rebels hung with Centreville for most of the game and trailed by just two points at halftime. Centreville was able to stretch its lead to 30-25 at the end of the third quarter and pulled away in the fourth quarter for the 46-33 win.

Chance Humphreys led the Tigers with 16 points in the contest. Michael Keith and Jake Darden were also in double-digits for Centreville. Keith finished with 12 points and Darden had 11.

The Rebels’ Brandon Walker led all scorers with 17 points in the game.

The loss dropped ACCS to 1-19 on the season, and Centreville improved to 6-16.