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Cathedral School’s Ty Tobias dribbles the ball down the court Monday during the Green Wave’s first-round MAIS Class AAA South State Championship loss at Adams County Christian School. Tobias is one of three senior who ended their season with the loss for Cathedral. (Emmalee Molay | The Natchez Democrat)

From left, Bowling Green's Jace Duhe, Connor Comeaux and Jace Schexnider watch as teammate Lync Sharp is loaded on to a stretcher after hitting the court Monday during an MAIS Class AAA South State Tournament game at Adams County Christian School. (Emmalee Molay | The Natchez Democrat)

Cathedral basketball coach Mathew Hall, right, chats with his team, including sophmore J.T. Taylor, middle, during an injury delay Monday night at Adams County Christian School. (Emmalee Molay | The Natchez Democrat)

Cathedral School's Trey Gill sticks out his hand for a high-five after teammate Colby Passman made a layup in the final minute of Monday's loss to Bowling Green. (Emmalee Molay | The Natchez Democrat)

Cathedral's Colby Passman makes a move Monday. (Emmalee Molay | The Natchez Democrat)

Matthew Hall and the Cathedral School boys basketball team needed a crowning spark to finish with a victory Monday night, but it unfortunately didn’t come after a more than 20-minute injury delay.

The Green Wave trailed by one point with just under three minutes remaining in its first-round MAIS Class AAA South State Tournament matchup, but couldn’t hold on after the extended break and ultimately ended its season, 31-27.

As the game neared the final minutes, Bowling Green’s Lync Sharp fell to the floor after he and Cathedral’s J.T. Taylor were both fighting for a loose ball. Sharp was responsive and his head was held stable on the floor until he was taken off the court via stretcher.

“The whole thing was weird,” Hall said. “With the injury, we all kind of had to reset. We were up the whole game, but I don’t think our lead ever got more than six to eight.”

Cathedral went back and forth with Bowling Green as the clock was winding down, most notably regaining the lead after Colby Passman made a crowd-jolting layup off a missed free throw.

As Bowling Green was driving back down the court, Braden Edwards was fouled and had a chance at two free throws himself, making the first to tie the game 27-27 with 11.7 seconds remaining.

Edwards missed the second free throw, but received a second chance after Cathedral committed a line violation.

“The explanation that I got was that our guy clapped,” Hall said. “He was trying to pump our guys up, but they called it. We were kind of beating ourselves up over that one, but it’s all a part of the game.”

Edward made his second attempt, and Bowling Green never then lost the lead.

Looking back on how this season started, Hall said, he couldn’t be more proud of how his team finished.

The Green Wave will lose three seniors in Ty Tobias, Caden Poole and Conner Branton.

“Our first game we lost by about 35 points,” Hall said. “I just told them to hang in there because we were going to get to where we wanted to get.

“Conner and Caden are baseball guys. They delayed the prep to their season just to play with us, and they did an excellent job. They haven’t played basketball in a few years, but ended up being starters. Obviously Ty is the best player on our team, and he is a tremendous leader so it’s tough on him to lose.”

Branton and Tobias led the efforts with eight points each in the loss. Passman added six of his own.

“You could just tell that someone’s heart was going to get broken in the end with this one, but we had a fun season,” Hall said. “I love this group of kids.”

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