CLINTON &045; If there’s anything to be learned at MPSA Overall, it’s that only four full quarters will do.

It’s the best of the best regardless of class, and the Trinity Episcopal Saints held on despite a sluggish third quarter to take a 65-52 win over Prairie View Academy to advance in the tournament &045; their first appearance in four years and first win since the 1978 squad won the overall title.

But if this year’s Saints are thinking overall title, it’s got to go through Madison-Ridgeland Academy, a team that beat them earlier in the season, a 2 p.m. today at Mississippi College’s A.E. Wood Coliseum.

&uot;We got a little lazy and got away from our game plan, and we don’t normally do that,&uot; Trinity head coach David King said. &uot;That’s the only thing I’m upset about. We didn’t finish it. But a win is a win at overall, and we’re excited to keep our season going on for another game. (MRA) Coach (Richard) Duease is a friend of mine and a Dean Smith of this league. We’ve got our hands full, but that’s what it’s all about.&uot;

The Saints never allowed the lead to get under 10 in the second half thanks to a 20-point lead at the start of the third quarter. But give some credit to the Spartans, who didn’t give up and got the lead down to 10 at the end of the third and held Trinity post Dudley Guice Jr. to two points in the second half.

&uot;We weren’t focused and ready to play,&uot; PV head coach Billy Pee said. &uot;We didn’t play well at all. We didn’t get in anything we were supposed to do the first quarter and most of the second quarter. We started doing things we were supposed to do in the third quarter, but it was a little too late. Trinity has a good ball club and a well-balanced ball club.&uot;

The Spartans (28-9) switched defense in the second half and went to a 1-3-1 set with a double-team on Guice, who scored 21 in the first half. Prairie View got a 3-pointer from Boo Waller with 6:03 left in the third to spark a 20-7 run that ended with another Waller 3-pointer with 55 seconds left to cut the lead to 51-41.

The Saints got their only two points from Guice in the run, but they got a 3-pointer from Chase Brown and a three-point play from Mike Lickliter with 1.5 seconds left for a 56-41 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

&uot;They went into that 1-3-1, and we kind of let up a little more than we should,&uot; said Brown, who canned four 3-pointers to finish with 17 points. &uot;They started making a couple shots on us. Number 11 (Waller) can shoot the lights out. We have to improve our defense in the next game if we want to win. If we come out and play hard like we can, it should be a pretty good game.&uot;

The Saints posted a 37-19 lead at half and started the second half strong with a two Gregory Ketchings buckets off steals for a 41-19 lead a little over a minute in. Then the Spartans got a bucket from inside guy Paul Faulkenberry to kick start their offensive surge, despite Brown’s 3-pointer right after that for a 44-21 lead.

&uot;We got a little lazy with our press and tired at the end,&uot; King said. &uot;We’ve played so much basketball lately and got tired at the end. Nevertheless, they’re a good ball club, and some of them (mistakes) were because of them. But we step it up big time tomorrow. If we play like we did today, they’ll beat us handily. If we can put four quarters together and the shots fall, we can beat anybody.&uot;

The Saints gave Prairie View problems defensively more in the first half and took control of the game early. Prairie View was scoreless for almost five minutes to start the game, and the Saints built up a 24-11 lead early in the second quarter to take control.

The Saints started to pull away in the second quarter as Guice started to heat up from the field. The junior post scored 14 straight points for the Saints &045; counting for all of a Trinity 14-6 run &045; with the last one coming at the 2:16 mark for a 30-15 lead.

&uot;The Guice kid is the real deal,&uot; Pee said. &uot;He can do it all. There was no help side whatsoever. The kid we had on him was doing OK, but one man is not going to stop him. We didn’t get good help side on him. We wanted to press, but we didn’t press the way we normally do. We were missing our point guard. He’s our ball handler, second-leading scorer and leader in assists.&uot;

But he wasn’t finished there. Guice drained a 3-pointer and drew a foul with 1.5 seconds left. He hit the shot to give the Saints a commanding 37-19 lead at halftime.

It also gave him 18 points in the second quarter.

&uot;That’s always a big factor when we have him down there,&uot; Brown said. &uot;It’s real tough to put a body on him. He’s so long and can jump.&uot;

The Saints took an 8-0 lead on a Brown 3-pointer, and Guice didn’t get going offensively until late when he hit a bucket with 20 seconds left for a 14-7 lead. Guice missed some shots early and drew attention from Prairie View’s biggest post as the Spartans started in a man-to-man set.

&uot;All of our guards were moving the ball real well and finding Dudley,&uot; King said. &uot;They made some adjustments in the second half and started doubling him. But our team ball was as good as it always is. We just got a little lazy and fatigued.&uot;

Waller led the Spartans with 22 points.