NATCHEZ — Cathedral High School boys head coach Peter Arnold said his team didn’t play with the enthusiasm it needed against Monterey last Friday.

On Tuesday, however, enthusiasm didn’t seem to be a problem as the Green Wave rolled to a 52-29 win against divisional rival Bogue Chitto High School.

“We responded great,” Arnold said. “The energy we lacked against Monterey was entirely different. We had what we needed.”

Cathedral jumped out to a 14-3 lead and was ahead 29-14 at the half. The Green Wave pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring the Bobcats 14-5, and Arnold began pulling the starters in the fourth quarter with a comfortable lead.

Jardarius Anderson led in scoring with 15 points, and Alex Weadock added 11 points. Ishmael Blackmon, who was absent from the team over the Christmas break, chipped in with 10 points, and James Coley scored eight points and pulled down 12 rebounds.

“Having Ishmael back was a boost,” Arnold said. “He’s a great on-ball defender, and he’s an aggressive and energetic player. Overall, we were focused on defense and played hard and rebounded well, and that’s exactly what we needed.”

Weadock said his 11 points were a result of working well together with Anderson on the court.

“In practice, we were working on back cuts,” Weadock said. “We executed the game plan, and Jardarius got me the ball when I was open. I didn’t do much.”

Having a scoring threat like Anderson helps the other players, Weadock said, since Anderson is able to effectively distribute the ball.

“He takes the pressure off the rest of us when he’s scoring, because they’ll close in on him, and kicks it out to us, and we score,” Weadock said.

No one for Bogue Chitto scored in double digits, and Dennis Rogers led the Bobcats in scoring with nine points.

Cathedral (5-7, 2-0) remains undefeated on its young Division 7-1A stretch of the season, and Arnold said getting the win Tuesday was huge for his squad.

“You have to win your home district games, then you have to go on the road and steal a few,” Arnold said. “If you want a high seeding, you have to win your home games.”

The Green Wave will travel to Piney Woods High School Friday.

Bogue Chitto 54, Cathedral girls 22

No Lady Green Wave player managed to score in double figures as the Lady Bobcats took it to Cathedral in a 54-22 Lady Green Wave loss.

After jumping out to a 21-5 lead in the first quarter, Bogue Chitto took a 29-13 advantage into the break. In the third quarter, the Lady Bobcats outscored the Lady Green Wave 17-4 to put the game out of reach.

“We played a very good team,” Cathedral girls coach Randy Smith said. “They’re extremely skilled and patient on offense, and we just give them all the credit — they were awesome.

“We video taped the game, and we’ll learn a lot from them. They’ve been a final four team three of the past four years. We never gave up, we just couldn’t get anything going.”

Bogue Chitto’s Christian Black led in scoring with 15 points, and Mattie Avants tallied 14 points for the Lady Bobcats. Cathedral’s McKenzie Milligan and Elizabeth Smith both had eight points.

Cathedral (8-4, 1-1) will play at Piney Woods Friday.