NATCHEZ — As Trinity Episcopal Day School learned Tuesday night, it’s simply too difficult to hang around in a game when you can’t generate any offense.

The Lady Saints were able to keep things close for a half against the visiting Cathedral High School girls, but the Lady Green Wave pulled away in the second half en route to a 35-21 victory.

“We have a bunch of young players, and I’m getting them to where I want them, but we need to score buckets, and we can’t score buckets,” Trinity girls coach Chuck Bauerle said.

“They played hard, and I’m proud of them. We were right there for a while, but we couldn’t score buckets when we needed to.”

Cathedral’s Sarah Beth Willard and Kennedy Gray helped their team take an early 11-2 after one quarter of play. Willard and Gray both tallied four points, while Taylor Beesley added two points and Sallie Stout scored one on a free throw. Trinity, meanwhile, managed just one field goal by Murphy Aldridge.

The Lady Saints came storming back in the second quarter, thanks in part to Cathedral hitting just one field goal during the period, a tray by Akua Kumi at the 3:34 mark. The Lady Green Wave went 0-for-7 at the free throw line in the second.

Trinity outscored Cathedral 9-2 in the first six minutes of play, with Sloan Young sinking two field goals, and Tali Beard and Marty Lewis both tallying a field goal apiece. Gabby Knight added a free throw to round out Trinity’s scoring in the second. Both teams went scoreless in the final two minutes of the second, and Cathedral took a 13-11 advantage into the break.

Cathedral head coach Randy Smith said he switched to a zone defense in the second quarter, but quickly saw that it wasn’t working after Trinity cut things close.

“I challenged them at halftime to pick it up and play defense,” Smith said. “I went back to man, and we went full court, which really bothered them.”

That was evident in the third period, as the Lady Saints managed just four points, two of which came on a field goal by Lewis at the buzzer. The Lady Green Wave would otherwise outscore the Lady Saints 10-2 in third quarter to push its lead out to 23-15 at the end of three.

Trinity fared better in the fourth quarter, tallying six points, but Cathedral saved its best quarter for last, dishing out 12 points and securing its fifth win of the season.

Willard led the Lady Green Wave with 10 points, while Gray added nine points for Cathedral. Lewis scored eight points to lead Trinity, and Young finished with six points.

“When Sarah Beth is on, we win,” Smith said.

Despite remaining winless on the season, Bauerle said he’s focusing on the little things as positives.

“We’re getting better on man-to-man defense, and we played that the whole game,” Bauerle said. “I like to play some zone, but they have to learn man first. We’re dealing with eighth- and ninth-graders, so there’s a learning curve.”

Cathedral rose to 5-11. The Trinity girls (0-13) won’t play again until Jan. 18 at Copiah Academy.

Trinity boys 74, Cathedral 30

Three Saints scored in double digits as Trinity cruised to a lopsided win against Cathedral Tuesday night.

Brandon Brooks led the Saints with a double-double, tallying 17 points and 12 rebounds. Dre McCoy added 13 points for Trinity, and Wyatt Boothe had 12 points.

Trinity led 39-16 at the half.

No one for the Green Wave scored in double digits, and Rodney Hall led Cathedral with eight points. Jardarius Anderson had seven points for Cathedral.

Trinity (10-3) will play Madison-Ridgeland Academy at 5:30 p.m. today in the Jackson Academy Tournament. Cathedral (6-10) will play at St. Aloysius Friday.