NATCHEZ — The Trinity Episcopal Day School Lady Saints started their district season off right with a 49-39 win against Wilkinson County Christian Academy Friday.

Trinity head coach Faye Minor said it was one of the Lady Saints’ better games so far this season.

“I think as a team, they played well. I was proud of them,” she said. “They really played hard. That’s something I haven’t seen out of them this year.”

Tali Beard tallied 17 points to lead Trinity, while Sloane Young added 14 points.

Rebecca Olive scored 13 points for the Lady Rams, and Carmen Cavin put together an 11-point performance.

The Lady Saints came out in full force as they built a 12-1 lead on Beard’s pull up jumper before WCCA scored its first field goal on a layup by Tamera Bateaste at the 2:57 mark.

The Lady Saints capped the first quarter off with a 5-0 run to go up 17-3.

Trinity was able to build on that lead in the second quarter as it pulled away 26-5 on Beard’s steal and breakaway layup at the four-minute mark.

The Lady Rams were finally able to generate consistent offense within the closing minutes of the half, as they went on a 6-0 run capped off by Olive’s layup before going into halftime down 30-16.

WCCA head coach Dani Wright said her players got off to a slow start that pushed them behind quickly.

“We looked a little slow on offense and defense for the first quarter and a half,” she said.

Trinity came out of the locker room with intensity as Beard made a steal out of a trap on the Lady Rams’ first possession, which turned into a layup by Young, making it 32-16.

But WCCA was able to return some of that energy as the scoring became even between the two squads.

Cavin hit a corner jumper at the four-minute mark before Young came back with a wing jumper to keep Trinity’s lead at 40-23.

The Lady Saints went up 43-25 before heading into the fourth quarter. Trinity went up 47-27 at the 4:35 mark as Beard’s steal turned into a layup for Rosa Williams, who had sprinted down the court for an open look.

Minor said her players played solid defense and followed the game plan, which resulted in the large lead.

 

“We wanted to jump on them really quickly,” Minor said. “I didn’t want to press right off, but we wanted to play a hard defense.”

Trinity cooled off from there, which allowed WCCA to make an 11-2 run, capped off by Brandi Norwood’s fast break layup to end the game.

Wright said the late-game push showed her how good they could be.

“They can be a great team when they want to be,” she said. “They have to start putting a solid forth quarter together.”

The Lady Saints play again at 6 p.m. Tuesday against Franklin Academy, while WCCA plays against Tensas Academy Tuesday.

Trinity boys 80, WCCA boys 21

Trinity showed no mercy from the opening tip as the Saints shut down the WCCA Rams 80-21 in its first district match of the season.

Arzell McCoy scored a game-high 26 points for the Saints while Tommy McCoy added 22 points. Jaylen Washington led the Rams with eight points in the game.

The Saints were in control from the start as they came out in a 1-2-2 half-court defense that consisted of aggressive traps.

Trinity was able to generate most of its offense from the defensive pressure as the Saints went up 25-2 after one.

The Saints kept that pressure on WCCA the entire game, outscoring the Rams 26-5 in the second quarter to take a 51-7 lead at half time.

In the third quarter, the intensity never slacked off as Trinity took a 71-12 lead.

The Saints finally eased off of the Rams as the game finally saw even scoring, 9-9, in the final quarter to take the 80-21 district win.