NATCHEZ — The Adams County Christian School girls’ basketball team fell one win shy of taking home the MAIS District 5-AA title this weekend.

The Rebels lost 59-37 to Brookhaven Academy in the finals after defeating Columbia Academy in their first-round game Thursday.

But despite not being able to bring home a championship, the Rebels may have found a key piece to the puzzle that could help them take home the ultimate prize in the playoffs.

Freshman Skylar Adams saw significant minutes in the district tournament, and ACCS head coach Melanie Hall said Adams is a player that can provide quality minutes on the inside.

“The truth be known, I almost moved her (to varsity) before this season ever started,” Hall said. “She’s practiced a lot with the high school and she played with the high school in the camp. I did not move her (at the time), but I’ve got a lot of confidence in the kid. She works hard, and she actually plays better at this level than she did with the junior high. Of course, she knows her role, bringing her toughness and post defense, and getting a few minutes here and there.”

Adams netted a free throw in the Lady Rebels’ win over Columbia and failed to score against Brookhaven.

The Lady Rebels will face Oak Forest at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the state playoffs.

Cathedral eliminated

The Cathedral School girls’ basketball team dropped a heart breaker to West Lincoln in the first round of the MHSAA Region 7-1A Tournament last week to ends its season at 3-22.

The Lady Green Wave led in the fourth quarter of the contest but ended up losing the lead and falling 37-32.

Cathedral head coach Randy Smith said he feels his team did get better this season, despite its record.

“We got better and better,” Smith said. “We’re still young. We had three freshmen out on the floor at the end, and only one senior. Next year will be an exciting year. We’ll be fast and ready to go, if they do their summer work and get in here and practice in the summer, we’ll be better.”

Vidalia’s season ends

Vidalia High School’s girls basketball season ended on a bad note Friday night with a lopsided, 70-19, loss at Avoyelles High School.

The loss marked the finale of a tough season for the Lady Vikings, who managed just two wins the entire season.

The fact that Vidalia played its district games in a tough district (LHSAA District 3-3A), which saw two teams rack up nine wins and another get seven wins in district play, did not help the Lady Vikings’ final record. Vidalia was unable to get a win in the district.

But, first-year head coach Fred Marsalis said there is light at the end of this year’s dark tunnel.

“We kind of feel the season went about as expected,” Marsalis said. “We had a tremendous amount of conditioning, teaching, skills and drills to do this year. We had some injuries that plagued us toward the end, but that gave us an excellent focus for the offseason. We’ve accomplished a lot and are looking forward to next year.”

Marsalis said his team had to get in better shape in the offseason and get stronger in the weight room to help prevent injuries.

Marsalis said his team would not wait long to get started on next season.

“We’ll probably start next week,” he said. “We’ll take a week off and get back to start offseason stuff in the weigh room (in a week).”