NATCHEZ &045; Pressure? Nope.

Just more intensity.

Adams Christian’s Rebels just used it all as motivation, and everything worked their way Tuesday night in the opening round of the District 3-AA tournament. The Rebels started off solid, got a double-digit lead and hung on at the end to claim a 65-54 win over Riverfield to advance and lock up a spot in the South State tournament next week back at ACCS.

It’s next week’s tournament that was the whole motivation for the Rebels, who played well for the third straight game after finishing the regular season with a paltry 2-8 mark in district.

&uot;We wanted to come out playing with the same intensity we’ve been playing (lately),&uot; said junior forward Timmy Foster, one of three Rebels in double figures in scoring. &uot;That’s what we’ve been working on &045; playing as a team and playing as one. (South State) was motivation for us. It’d be kind of bad if we hosted it and wasn’t in it. Our goal now is to win district.&uot;

The win over a Riverfield team that beat them twice during the regular season further validated the level the Rebels are playing at now &045; something that may have started three games ago with the win over a good Class AAA Parklane team.

Against the Raiders, the Rebels were methodical in their offense and made good decisions en route to a 28-16 lead at halftime. They started the game on a 10-0 run, one that may have set the tone more than anything in their home gym.

&uot;I told them there was no way we could let them start off strong,&uot; Adams head coach Kyle Smith said. &uot;We had to start off strong, get a lead and try to take them out of what they wanted to do. We knew they were a team that wouldn’t give up. It was very important for us to come out, get the lead and play well. We wanted to be patient on offense and make our shots count.&uot;

The Raiders never gave up playing hard at the end and whittled what was once a 16-point lead down to seven late in the fourth. They put up 27 points in the fourth but couldn’t overcome that sluggish first half where the Rebels controlled the tempo.

On two occasions Riverfield trimmed the deficit to seven, the last time coming on a 3-pointer from Jared Sehon with 1:44 left in the game for a 57-50 AC lead. The Rebels then called a timeout and began to get underneath Riverfield’s press, and Ray Simpson put in a bucket off a fast break 30 seconds later.

Riverfield came up empty on its next trip down the floor, and Clay Floyd hit two free throws with 54 seconds left to put the lead back in double digits. Then the Raiders were called for an offensive foul their next trip down with 49 seconds left.

&uot;We really didn’t (play well early), and I don’t know why,&uot; Riverfield head coach Donnie Foster said. &uot;We didn’t look like the same club in the first half. It looked like we were in a fog. We came out in the second half and played as hard as we could play. We just never could get it close enough.&uot;

The Rebels weren’t as fluid in the second half but found a way to answer each run Riverfield made. The Raiders started the second half on a run that trimmed the lead to seven when Sehon put in a bucket, but the Rebels got their first score of the half from Timmy Foster at the 4:35 mark to put their lead at 31-20.

That sparked an 8-1 run that ended with a bucket from Casey Gould for a 36-22 lead. Riverfield put in consecutive buckets after that, but the Raiders’ bench was called for a technical foul on the ensuing AC possession.

Dustin Case hit both free throws to start a 6-0 run as AC led 42-27 after three.

Timmy Foster led AC with 19.

&uot;To their credit, I thought they played well,&uot; Donnie Foster said. &uot;If you can’t play well on the road, you’re going to the house. The home crowd always helps, and it helped them. But I don’t think it was a hindrance to us. We just didn’t play like we should have the first half.&uot;

The biggest key for the Rebels was that first half, and they held the ball for well over the first minute of the game. Simpson hit a bucket at the buzzer to end the first quarter with a 16-6 lead.

The Raiders had two field goals the first quarter against the Rebels’ man defense.

&uot;They knew we were going to play man, and I don’t think it’s really a secret,&uot; Smith said. &uot;I thought we did a real good job in the first half helping with picks and getting loose balls.&uot;