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NATCHEZ — This was not the way that Cathedral High School’s varsity basketball teams wanted to start the new year as both the Lady Green Wave and the Green Wave lost at home to Copiah Academy last Tuesday night in their MAIS District 4-5A opener.

Copiah Academy girls 39, Cathedral 34

The varsity girls game started off good for the Cathedral Lady Green Wave, but Copiah Academy outscored them in each of the final three quarters as the Lady Colonels escaped with a 39-34 win at the Roy A. Garcia Gym.

Led by Marlie Hargon and Kinslee Young, as well some good defense, Cathedral jumped out to a 10-5 lead on Copiah Academy by the end of the first quarter. And while the Lady Colonels outscored the Lady Green Wave 12-9 in the second quarter, the home team still led at halftime 19-17.

Hargon led Cathedral in scoring with 14 points to go with three rebounds and two assists while Young contributed with seven points, 12 rebounds, and two blocks.

Copiah Academy continued its comeback in the third quarter as the Lady Colonels put up 11 points while Cathedral was held to eight points, giving the visiting team from Gallman a 38-37 lead. Unfortunately, the Lady Green Wave’s shooting and turnover woes carried over into the fourth quarter as they were outscored by the Lady Colonels 11-7.

The Lady Green Wave fell to 12-8 overall and 0-1 in district play. They next play at cross-town and district rival Adams County Christian School at 6 p.m. Friday before traveling to Madison to take on Madison-Ridgeland Academy this Saturday afternoon.

Copiah Academy boys 54, Cathedral 46

In the varsity boys’ game, Cathedral overcame a rough start to take the lead at halftime, but Copiah Academy responded in a big way in the second half to give the Colonels a 54-46 win over the Green Wave.

Cathedral struggled to get shots to fall in the first quarter and were perhaps lucky to be down only 11-6 to Copiah Academy by quarter’s end. However, the Green Wave answered by outscoring the Colonels 15-8 in the second quarter to go into the half up 21-19.

But that lead would not last very long as Copiah Academy regained its offensive rhythm in the second half as the Colonels went on to outscore Cathedral 15-10 in the third quarter for a 34-31 lead and 20-15 in the fourth quarter.

Justin Hawkins led Cathedral with 16 points while Grayson Gay chipped in with 12 points.

The Green Wave dropped to 10-10 overall and 0-1 in district play. They next play at ACCS at 7:30 p.m. in a cross-town and district showdown. Then they play at Madison-Ridgeland Academy Saturday afternoon.