NATCHEZ — No one was happier to see the clock tick down to 0:00 on Friday night than Cathedral boys basketball coach Peter Arnold.

Cathedral had just defeated rival and Region 7-1A foe St. Aloysius 70-52, but Arnold was less than impressed with the Green Wave’s sloppy play in the second half.

“I just wanted to get this one over with,” Arnold said. “We were so awful in the second half. I just wanted to get the win and get back to practicing.”

Arnold’s disappointment in his team’s play in the second half was magnified when looking at how well Cathedral played in the first half.

The Green Wave used a trapping press to bother St. Al and force numerous turnovers, which led to several easy baskets.

Cathedral also had a good rhythm going offensively, and patiently built a 17-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 35-20 lead at halftime.

“In the first half we used our press and ran the offense well,” Arnold said. “I thought we played well in the first half. But I don’t know what happened at halftime. I don’t know who was out there in the second half wearing our uniforms. They were imposters.”

While St. Al had all sorts of problems with Cathedral’s press in the first half, they had a much easier time in the second half, getting to the rim numerous times for layups.

Cathedral’s offense also never seemed to get in synch in the second half as well.

“We didn’t run an offense in the second half and our defense was very slow,” Arnold said. “We never did get in rhythm offensively because we were so impatient. Impatience is our biggest enemy right now.”

Despite Cathedral’s struggles in the second half, St. Al was never able to close the lead to within 10 points.

The Flashes cut the lead to 55-44 with four minutes remaining, but Cathedral finished the game with an offensive flourish, outscoring St. Al 15-8 the remainder of the game.

Collin Hammons led Cathedral with 21 points while Carl Hammitte scored 16 and Daniel Huffines chipped in 13.

St. Al was led by Ford Biedenham with 17, Peter Halinski with 13 and Sean Johnson with 12.

Cathedral evened its overall record at 7-7 and its Region 7-1A record at 2-2 with a road game at Sebastopol looming Tuesday.

And with a couple of tough region games coming up, Arnold said it was important to take care of business at home Friday.

“It was good to get a win over our rival,” Arnold said. “But it’s more important that we got another district victory.”

Cathedral girls 47, St. Aloysius 27

The Cathedral Lady Wave turned a relatively close game into a rout with a big fourth quarter that put away St. Aloysius Friday night.

Cathedral led 26-17 at the end of the third quarter, but outscored the Flashes 21-10 in the fourth quarter to pull away for the easy victory.

Cathedral’s defense was the key, as the Lady Wave only allowed St. Al to score eight points in the first half.

Mae Durkin led Cathedral with 14 points while Ana Perry scored 13 and Ginny Daggett tallied 10.

St. Al was led by Sara Howington with nine points and Caryle Smith with eight.