By TAYLOR DENMAN

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ — The Cathedral boys basketball team kept Laurel Christian at an arms length for most of Wednesday night’s 4-AAA district tournament game and picked up a 51-43 win at Adams County Christian School.

The victory grants Cathedral a seed in the South State tournament in its first season playing in MAIS, but Green Wave head coach Peter Arnold thought his team still had some offensive rust to clean off.

“The first half, we didn’t play smart,” Arnold said. “The effort was better in the second half. When you’ve beaten somebody twice, you go through the motions sometimes”

Arnold added that he thinks the 4-AAA tournament opener was the best of the three games his squad played against Laurel Christian this season, just not quite playoff form.

The Green Wave kept Laurel Christian off the offensive glass and eliminated second-chance baskets in the second half and had stellar scoring performances from junior Connor Mire, 17, and senior Jardarius Anderson, 17, that kept Cathedral ahead by multiple possessions.

Laurel Christian had cut Cathedral’s lead to within two possessions midway through the third quarter when Mire knocked down a 3-pointer and hit a floater on back-to-back possessions.

“Whenever I get the ball, I just try to make things happen,” Mire said. “I was feeling it (Wednesday).”

Arnold put his trust in Anderson to facilitate the offense for the majority of the game, and it showed in the box score. Anderson racked up eight rebounds and six assists in addition to his scoring effort.

“We need (Anderson) out there, he runs the show,” Arnold said. “When things are going bad I call on him, and as a senior point guard you have to be in charge.”

Another senior, James Allen Coley scored seven points and made a mark on the boards with six rebounds. Will Wallace worked the post for eight points.

Cathedral’s win eliminates Laurel Christian from the district tournament and pushes the Green Wave to the semifinals against Columbia Academy Friday.

The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday night before inclement weather forced the tournament to be rescheduled.

Now the first round is behind Arnold and his squad and he thinks returning to a more consistent schedule will put Cathedral back on track.

“It’s not that there was any pressure on us,” Arnold said. “All you want to do is win the first game; that’s the elimination game.”