NATCHEZ — The weeks around Christmas and New Year’s mean a break for most high school students as schools are closed for the holidays.

For high school basketball players, however, the break means a chance to play.

Last week offered several opportunities to see numerous local teams in action all in one place, as holiday tournaments took center stage.

The Jefferson County High School Holiday Tournament and the WCCA New Year’s Shootout both featured several area schools while several other local teams participated in tournaments out of town.

The Jefferson County Lady Tigers finished 3-0 in their own tournament to take the title while the Jefferson County boys also performed well in the tournament which also featured Wilkinson County.

The WCCA New Year’s Shootout featured WCCA, ACCS and Centreville and all three teams beat up on each other in the round robin format, which made for some good basketball.

Other area schools also participated in tournaments out of town, with the Natchez High boys traveling to the Sunkist Shootout in Lafayette, La. and the Lady Bulldogs venturing to Sterlington, La. for the Sterlington Holiday Shootout.

Unfortunately, the Lady Bulldogs tasted defeat for the first time in the tournament, falling to Wossman 60-50 to drop to 16-1 on the season.

Other teams that participated in holiday tournaments were Cathedral, in the Wesson Invitational, Franklin County in the Doc Edwards Classic in Bossier City, La., and Ferriday, Vidalia and Block in the Sicily Island Tournament.

After playing in the tournament, area schools will take a needed break from games over the remainder of the holiday.

The season resumes Thursday with two games, Central Private at WCCA, Monterey at Cathedral and Franklin County participating in the Lawrence County Tournament and will restart in earnest on Friday with a full slate of games.