NATCHEZ — The Adams County Christian School Lady Rebels found out the hard way that basketball is just as much a mental sport than a physical one.

ACCS faced the defending MAIS Class A state champions Bowling Green School in a home game, but the more frequently their mistakes came about, the more they started to shut down as they fell 62-35.

Lady Rebels head coach Melanie Hall said they beat themselves out of the victory.

“We weren’t patient,” she said. “We got in panic mode and helped them beat us. They are the defending state champions from a year ago, but they weren’t doing anything that we weren’t ready for.”

The Lady Rebels scored double digits in two quarters while Bowling Green kept a consistent pace.

Jordan Petty led the Lady Rebels with 15 points, and was the only ACCS player to score double-digit points. Bowling Green, however, saw three players with double-digit figures led by Reagan Moody scoring 17 points followed by Melissa Crowe and Kristina Jarrell both scoring 10.

The game started well for the Lady Rebels with an early 6-2 lead. But the 2:19 mark of the first quarter, senior point guard Tory Laird injured her ankle on a crisp pass to Ashleigh Williams.

From there, ACCS lost the lead within the next minute and never recovered.

Laird returned to the game with a minute left in the first quarter, but it seemed like the Lady Rebels’ energy stayed on the bench.

ACCS went into the second quarter down 14-12, but by halftime, they were down 35-17. The second quarter was powered by Jarrell who scored eight of her 10 points.

ACCS didn’t score its first basket in the second quarter until the 3:30 mark when Petty scored a lay up. But that basket was soon followed by a Bowling Green lay-up plus the foul.

The second half didn’t present much promise for the Lady Rebels who were already trailing by 18 points as they scored just six points to Bowling Green’s 11.

ACCS finally got a spark going in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 points, but they were too far behind to make a come back.

Hall said several things kept them from having a competitive ball game.

“We should have had several open lay ups and several free throws,” Hall said. “We had 30-plus turnovers. You take those turn overs away and put those lay ups in and it could have possibly been a whole different ball game.”

With only a few games under their belt, Hall said her players must get down about the loss, but take it as a teaching tool.

“I always say, ‘In victory or defeat, to God be the glory,’” Hall said. “The Lord will teach us things through this. We have to take things from this and learn, and we’ll be better.”

The Lady Rebels hit the court again at 6 p.m. today against Parklane Academy.