The second halves proved to be the undoing for both the Delta Charter School boys and girls basketball teams Friday night.

A 16-1 Jena High School run bridged between the third and fourth quarters lifted the Lady Giants to a 62-36 win over the Lady Storm, while a 46-point second half spearheaded Jena to a 75-52 win over DCS in boys action.

“That’s been the case all year,” said DCS coach Ron Ellis, who coaches the boys and girls teams. “Either we play a good first half or a good second half. It’s always one. I just call it immaturity, not focused and not ready to play.”

Trailing by double figures for much of the third quarter, the DCS (7-7) boys team managed to trim its deficit to single digitsk 49-42, entering the fourth quarter.

Jena then leaned on its size and length to harass and pressure the Storm into turnovers resulting in a flurry of baskets to open the final period.

Delta Charter did have bright spots throughout, especially the play of Kavarius Whitehead. The freshman guard entered scored all of his 12 points in the second half and played a key role for the Storm during their third-quarter surge.

“He’s been in a slump. He started off real good, but has been kind of down,” Ellis said. “He’s a freshman. He’s going to be up and down.”

Freddie Mango had 11 points for DCS, and Dontae Brown added nine points. The 5-foot-8 guard also had four blocks in the loss.

“He wants to play down low,” Ellis said of Brown. “He does well down there; he’s just small.”

Jai’Travian Kittlin led the Giants with a game-high 25 points.

In the girls game, the Lady Storm managed to trim an 8-point halftime deficit to four, 31-27, midway through the third before the Lady Giants seized control.

Jena was led in scoring by guard Kerrigan Small, who poured in a game-high 25 points.

Delta Charter (4-10) was led in scoring by Kaci Parker and Darby Beach with 9 points apiece.

Delta Charter will take the court in next week’s Sicily Island Tournament at Sicily High School.

“The time is catching up on us,” Ellis said. “We need to get it together. These tough games are preparing us for district.”

The boys will open at 2:20 p.m. Monday against Vidalia High School, while the girls will play at 4:40 p.m. Tuesday against Ferriday High School.

“We want to get some wins, but we also want to show teams that Delta Charter is coming up,” Ellis said. “We want to show we’re just not a school that they are going to blow out. We’ve got some good athletes over here. It’s coming together.”