NATCHEZ — Their shots might hot have been falling and they might have been turning the ball over too much, but there are always two things the Trinity Episcopal Lady Saints are going to do consistently — play good aggressive defense and play hard.

And those two things helped them overcome a woeful offensive night to claim a 41-36 win over Prairie View.

“This team just never quits,” Lady Saints coach Richy Spears said. “They’re just gritty. They play hard and they hustle all the time.”

Prairie View led much of the game, thanks to numerous turnovers and missed shots by the Lady Saints, but Trinity’s defense never wavered, and they never let Prairie View get too far out in front.

“The defense is always there,” Spears said. “Sometimes we can’t get the offense where we want it, we always play hard and play good, aggressive defense. That’s what we preach.”

Prairie View led by as many as eight points in the first half and led 22-16 at halftime.

However, Trinity started reeling Prairie View in during the third quarter, and finished the quarter down just 31-28.

Trinity eighth-grader Brandis White hit a three-pointer a minute into the final period to tie the score and that seemed to finally spark the Lady Saints offense.

Bethany Ogden added another three-pointer a little over a minute later and Prairie View was never able to get closer than four points the rest of the way.

“We finally started to hit some outside shots in the fourth quarter,” Spears said. “We’ve been missing that the past few games, so it was nice to finally hit some tonight.”

White led the Lady Saints with 12 points while Madelyn Cross scored 10 and Bethany Ogden added nine.

Caroline Olyphant led Prairie View with 18 points.

For the Class A Lady Saints (13-4), it was yet another victory over a larger school, as Prairie View plays in Class AA.

“This is a huge win for us,” Spears said. “This is going to help us down the line. That’s why we’re playing such a tough schedule, to help us down the road.”

Trinity boys 61, Prairie View 53

It was a trying week for the Trinity Episcopal Saints, as one of their teammates, Dylan Pressgrove, was seriously injured in a car accident on New Year’s Day.

But for at least one night, the Saints were able to pull together and gut out a victory over a quality opponent, as they defeated Prairie View by eight points.

“We are playing with heavy hearts,” Trinity coach David King said. “But we manned up and played through the adversity. I’m just proud that the boys were able to get out there and play at all.”

The first half was close all the way through, as the two teams were tied at 13 through one quarter and tied at 27 at halftime.

However, Trinity’s quickness started to wear on Prairie View in the second half, as the Saints were able to harass the Spartans on the defensive end, collect some steals and turn them into layups.

The Saints led 44-41 at the end of the third quarter, but went on a 14-3 run to open the fourth quarter to put the game away.

But even after the good win, the Saints were subdued after the events of the past week.

“We’ve all been in a sad state,” King said. “You realize more than ever that this is just a game. We’ll do our best the rest of the year, but right now we know this is just a game.”

Givonni Dent led Trinity with 14 points while Jake Winston chipped in with 10.

Prairie View was led by Chase Anderson with 22 points.