The District 6A tournament is still two weeks away at Trinity, but the atmosphere was tournament-like Monday as Tensas’ Lady Chiefs remained perfect in district, handing the Lady Saints their first district loss 65-60.

&uot;That was great competition,&uot;&160;said Trinity head coach Melanie Hall. &uot;I’m proud of our girls’ heart and effort.&uot;

Trinity fell to 16-5 overall and 2-1 in district, while the Lady Chiefs improved to 17-6 and 2-0.

&uot;I remember leaving the gym last year after watching the Trinity junior varsity team and telling someone that Trinity’s girl were going to be tough to deal if they have a good coach,&uot; said Tensas coach Spike Spangler. &uot;We’re glad to get out of here with a ‘W.’&uot;

Trinity’s boys cruised to an 89-59 win.

Trinity’s girls jumped out to an 11-6 lead on a field goal by Lauren Tanner.

Robin Rae Burns, who finished with a season-high 36 points, led Tensas back, hitting a 3-pointer for a 19-13 Lady Chief advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Both teams battled back and forth as two heavyweight champions in the middle of the ring in the second quarter, as the Lady Chiefs retained a 6-point lead at 32-26.

Trinity’s Sara Greer hit a 3-pointer and free throw to pull the Lady Saints to within 32-30. Another Greer basket midway through the third quarter pulled Trinity to within 37-36.

The Lady Chiefs pulled back ahead 43-38 before Jennifer Paradise hit a field goal to cut the lead to three.

Tensas’s Bonnye Sanderson answered with a 3-point shot and field goals by Shelby Alford and Tabatha Kelly gave Tensas a 50-42 lead.

&uot;They just couldn’t miss,&uot; Hall said. &uot;We just couldn’t ever get past them. We’ll just have to make a couple of adjustments for the next time we play them.&uot;

A 3-pointer by Ashley Kingsafter and two field goals by Tanner pulled Trinity to within 56-53 with 2:37 remaining.

Burns answered with two baskets on a fast break, but a Greer 2-pointer pulled Trinity to within 62-58 with 1:04 remaining and the Lady Chiefs held on for the win.

&uot;We play a whole lot better when we’re running,&uot; said Burns, who also grabbed 14 rebounds. &uot;We knew they were a good team and weren’t going to fold.&uot;

Alford added 10 points for Tensas. Beth Waters led the Lady Chiefs with 18 rebounds.

&uot;I thought Beth and Shelby did a good job inside,&uot; Spangler said. &uot;They rose to the occasion. They played real strong. I thought they neutralized Trinity’s inside game.&uot;

Trinity was led by Greer with 17. Tanner added 15, while Kingsafer and Becky Bass scored 11 each.

&uot;I had a hard time getting my second win,&uot; said Greer, who is still battling a pulled hamstring. &uot;But we know we can be competitive with them.&uot;

The boys game did not have as much suspense as Trinity went to its running game to take a 10-2 lead.

Kris Thomson hit from the outside and dished off inside to lead the Saints to a 22-11 first quarter advantage.

&uot;We wanted to get out and establish a lead,&uot; said Trinity coach David King. &uot;Our strength is our quickness. Kris did a good job of finding the open man.&uot;

The Saints led 50-28 at halftime.

Bobby Craig struggled in the first half from the outside, but came back strong in the second half as the Saints continued using the fast break efficiently.

Trinity led 71-40 after three quarters.

Trinity improved to 15-5 overall and 3-0 in district.

Craig led the Saints with 35 points, while Chad Ridley and Thomson added 32 and 21 points, respectively.

&uot;I thought that was the best team game we played this season,&uot; Craig said. &uot;You didn’t know who was going to get the ball we moved it around so much.&uot;

Trinity returns to district action Friday as the Saints hosts Ben’s Ford.