NATCHEZ — The Adams County Christian School varsity girls remained in striking distance after the first half, but a sluggish second half cost the Lady Rebels a chance at a district title.

ACCS fell to Brookhaven Academy 59-37 in the MAIS District 5-AA championship round, and a 9-for-24 night at the free throw line was a major culprit, head coach Melanie Hall said.

“You had two good teams battling, and if we had made our free throws in the first half, we would have been ahead,” Hall said. “With that, it kind of changes things a little bit.”

ACCS trailed 19-13 at the end of the first, and both teams tallied 10 points in the second quarter to make it 29-23 at intermission. After going 2-for-2 in free throws in first quarter, though, ACCS was only 4-for-12 in foul shots in the second quarter.

“I’ve said they’re going to come back and bite you in the behind,” Hall said of the missed throws. “You put those free throws in there, at one time, we would have gone ahead, and it changes the whole dynamic of (the game).”

In the second half, Brookhaven Academy began pulling away as the Lady Cougars reeled off 16 points while holding the Lady Rebels to six, taking a 45-29 lead going into the fourth.

“As a unit, I don’t feel like we had the intensity (in the second half), and we were maybe a little flat and didn’t play like we did in the first half,” Hall said.

Brandis White led ACCS in scoring with 16 points, and Abby Givens scored 10 points for the Lady Rebels. Brookhaven Academy’s Terah Winborne tallied 18 points, and Carey Crozier finished with 11 points for the Lady Cougars.

ACCS boys 49, Columbia Academy 48

A steal on a Columbia Academy inbounds pass by ACCS’s Lester Wells sealed the Rebels’ win in the third-place consolation game of the MAIS Class 5-AA tournament.

Junior Brandon Walker hit one of two free throws with 5.5 seconds left in regulation to give ACCS the lead.

Wells scored 17 points for ACCS, while Walker had 16 points. Columbia Academy’s Alex Price led in scoring with 26 points.

The South State tournament begins Monday at Simpson Academy.