Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NATCHEZ — Adams County Christian School’s varsity basketball game more than held its own against one of the top teams in the state in St. Joseph Catholic School of Madison last Thursday night in the MAIS District 3-5A and regular-season finale for both teams.

But on Senior Night at ACCS, St. Joe Madison caught fire from long distance just minutes into the second half and quickly turned around a short deficit into a double-digit lead as the Bruins went on to defeat the Rebels 50-40.

ACCS got off to a good start and led St. Joe Madison 12-7 at the end of the first quarter. The Bruins actually started their comeback bid by outscoring the Rebels 12-9 in the second quarter to go into halftime down just two points, 21-19.

“We were able to win the first half. The second half started and they hit four 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the third quarter. We went from up two to down 10. That kind of deflated us,” Rebels head coach Matthew Freeman said.

Led by point guard Jadon Smith, the Bruins ended up putting up 18 points in the third quarter while holding the Rebels to a scant four points. Freeman noted that that was the difference in the outcome of this important district match-up for each squad.

“It made it tough for us. They were able to hit some tough shots,” Freeman said. “That’s not our strong suit on defense. Our defense is built around keeping people from driving to the goal and making lay-ups, not having to defend the perimeter. They hit seven 3s in the game.”

Smith led all scorers with 21 points and Brandon Cooley added nine points for the Bruins, who led the Rebels 37-25 by the end of the third quarter. ACCS outscored St. Joe Madison 15-13 in the fourth quarter, but it was not meant to be.

Edarius Green led ACCS with 12 points and Tyson Young finished with 10 points. The Rebels fell to 17-6 overall and 6-4 in district play. They will be the No. 3 seed on the boys’ bracket of the District 3-5A Tournament at St. Joe Madison and will take on No. 6 seed St. Aloysius High School at 5:30 p.m. in a first-round game.

The ACCS Lady Rebels fell to the St. Joe Madison Bruins in the varsity girls’ game. No other information was available and efforts to reach head coach Richy Spears for comments and to find out their seeding and first-round opponent and time were unsuccessful.