BY CHERIE WARD

THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT

NATCHEZ — Alumni from the Cathedral High School girls basketball team dominated the private school’s Lady Green Wave in a friendly Natchez Community Basketball Tournament played this weekend, organizers said Monday.

“It was kind of cool to watch,” said tournament organizer Randy Smith, a former Lady Green Wave head coach. “Both teams played their hearts out and the high school did better in the free throw competition, but the alumni did better on the court.”

Smith has organized the two-day round-robin event for the past three years and said he has no plans to stop anytime soon.

“It’s good for the community,” Smith said. “It gives (the waves) a chance to play against former waves and it gives the alumni a chance to come home and play on courts they know. Some of them have sisters on the team. It’s just a blast.”

Smith said most of the alumni team members currently attend Louisiana State University.

“And it makes the parents very happy when those girls get to come home for a weekend,” Smith said. “I really think the parents have the most fun because they get to see their daughters on their home courts again.”

Each of the teams played five to six games, according to Smith.

“And every team won a game or two,” he said. “It’s very competitive.”

Smith said he and other organizers were adamant in making sure the games were family-friendly contests.

“If a team or a player starts getting too loud they get warned,” Smith said. “If they don’t stop, they don’t get invited back next year. We want it to be a great time for everyone, the fans and the players.”