VICKSBURG— Cathedral girls head coach Randy Smith wanted his team to set the tone for the Class 1A Region 7 tournament at St. Aloysius in their first game, and they did just that, blowing out Piney Woods 70-9.

“They just played great,” said Smith of the Lady Wave. “That gets us into the state playoffs no matter what, so we are very excited about that.”

Despite not having one of its leading scoring options, McKenzie Milligan, because of illness, the Lady Wave were still able to consistently put the ball in the basket.

Elizabeth Smith led the attack with 14 points and Mackenzie Watts added 12 of her own.

Twelve different Lady Wave players scored in the contest.

“It was our goal to play a lot of people,” Smith said. “We told our starters to set the tone for not only the game, but the whole tournament and show that we are in this. We wanted to come out strong and not play down to the competition.”

Cathedral jumped out to a big lead after the first quarter of play, 18-2, and continued to roll into halftime, outscoring Piney Woods 22-1 in the second quarter.

The Lady Wave shutout Piney Woods in the third quarter and then held them to just six points in the final period to complete their dominant defensive display.

But the road only gets tougher, as the Lady Wave prepare to face Bogue Chitto, an opponent they know very well.

“We are going to have to play a really good game, shoot well, block out and play defense,” Smith said. “We have to be pamost how we beat them last time. We are excited to play them, and we aren’t going down without a fight.”

Trinity 69, Briarfield

Academy 57

LEARNED — Jasmine Ivory and D’Asia Mitchell both scored 19 points for the Trinity Episcopal Day School Lady Saints, and teammate Dionna Jackson recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, as the Lady Saints advanced to the next round of the MAIS Class A State Tournament with a 69-57 win against Briarfield Academy.

“I thought we did great,” Trinity head coach Fay Minor said. “Jasmine Ivory and D’Asia Mitchell both stepped up to the plate. Jasmine did an exceptional job on defense and she handled the ball well for us. It was one of the best games she had this year.”

The first quarter was the difference in the game and allowed Trinity to establish themselves.

“I think we were able to jump out because of our full and half court presses,” Minor said. “We threw them off guard really well and kept them off balanced.”

Next up for Trinity is Carroll Academy in a matchup slated for 4 p.m. Thursday.

Minor said she doesn’t know much about Carroll Academy, but expects a good test.

“I’m going to try and get in touch with some of the coaches that have played them this year and try to get a scouting report,” Minor said. “They are number one in their district, so it should be an evenly matched game.”

BLOCK 77, SICILY ISLAND 61

JONESVILLE — Despite a 23 point performance from Larry Plummer, the Sicily Island Tigers were unable to hold off Block, who were led by Raymond Plummer with 20 points, in a 77-61 game.

Block controlled the game most of the way, outscoring Sicily Island in each quarter.

Tyreke Tolliver and Ryan Mason added 16 and 14 points respectively for the Tigers.