Wilkinson County head coach Henry Storey has great respect for Amite County, a team that beat his Wildcats twice this season and remains atop the Region 7-3A standings.

After all, the Trojans went into this season with most looking at them as a rebuilding club with the departure of four starters from last year’s squad.

All Amite County (14-4) has done is win eight of its nine region games, taking a half game lead into its showdown with second-place Franklin County on Tuesday.

&uot;I never thought we’d be where we are,&uot; Trojans head coach Earnest Ray said. &uot;I attribute that to the kids and their work habits.&uot;

Truthfully, it’s not a total shock. Ray does have plenty of size and strength in the frontcourt with the bruising Lee Robinson and the slender Gregory Hughes (6-5).

Combine that with the guard play of Timothy Robinson and Ken Weathersby, a pair that aren’t snipers from the field, but aren’t careless with the ball either, and the Trojans have a subtly deadly mixture.

&uot;They really weren’t doing the job they were supposed to,&uot; Ray said modestly of his team. &uot;They weren’t taking advantage of making the points. We had several opportunities in the first half that we missed.&uot;

For Storey, it was the second time this season the Wildcats fought back from a deficit to take a lead against Amite County, only to give it back equally as fast.

Despite the loss, Storey believes his team is better because it can &uot;pinpoint&uot; how the Trojans survived this win.

&uot;I don’t think their defense is what caused us to miss shots,&uot; he said. &uot;We flat out just missed them. In tennis you’d call those unforced errors. They didn’t outplay us. We never showed up tonight.&uot;

PLAYERS STEP UP &045; Tuesday’s Tensas Academy-Trinity Episcopal girls’ contest may have been closer than the 55-32 final score indicated, but it’s a good bet the two teams will meet again Saturday in the finals of the MPSA 7-A tournament.

But Tuesday’s game was a huge step for the Lady Chiefs, who went on to finish the district undefeated and may be considered one of the better teams in South Class A.

They’re good-sized and quick, but Tuesday’s game showed how good they could be with sophomore Whitney Alford playing in the middle. Alford, about 6-0 with arms long enough to block many a shot, finished the game with 16 points.

&uot;She played her best game of the year,&uot;&160;Tensas head coach Chuck Bauerle said. &uot;She was probably in double digits in rebounding. Whitney has played well all year, but she has struggled in scoring. (Tuesday) she put it all together, and I’m proud of her. When we had a miss, she got it and put it back in. She’s been really excited about playing.&uot;

Her effort and the final score kind of overshadowed the output from Trinity junior Sierra Massey, who finished with 14 points thanks to four 3-pointers.

Massey played with a bandage on her right elbow &045;&160;her shooting elbow &045; after hyperextending it the night before against Amite School Center.

She even aggravated it early Tuesday, but TE head coach Melanie Hall said Massey wouldn’t stand for sitting on the bench.

&uot;The doctor said she needed to rest, but Sierra is a competitor,&uot; Hall said.&160;&uot;With a heart like that, I’ve been there myself. My mom could give you a lot of stories about that. She wanted to play, and her mom was OK with it. I thought she did a super job. Unless she’s under doctor’s orders that you will not play, she will play.&uot;

TOUGH TO TAKE &045; Natchez High’s Lady Bulldogs played solid defensively Friday to put away Forest Hill, but they’re still adjusting to life without Kameshia Sproulls.

Sproulls, a good source of scoring who hit two clutch free throws in a surprise win over Warren Central, injured an ankle Jan. 23 at Franklin County and is out for the year.

&uot;You watch us play, and we have a problem with good scorers,&uot; NHS&160;interim head coach Steve McClatchy said.&160;&uot;We don’t have a lot of pure scorers, but Kameshia had come on and had been scoring for us. We’re going to miss her.&uot;

But much like they did in Friday’s suprise win, the Lad Bulldogs pressed on. Their defense picked up significantly, getting a numer of steals in their full-court man-to-man defense.

It came at just the right time &045; a week after losing Sproulls, a game removed from losing to division foe Vicksburg and two weeks away from the division tournament.

&uot;We would press, and they would lose the ball,&uot; said Wennifer Noble, who collected a number of steals in the press. &uot;We just did what the coach said and did it right. We’ve got to go out there with confidence. We can beat anybody we put our mind to, but a lot of times we’re not focused enough.&uot;

(Sports editor

Adam Daigle

contributed to this report.)