VICKSBURG — Cathedral High School head coach Peter Arnold used the words heartbreaking, gut-wrenching and unfair to describe the Green Wave’s 80-75 overtime loss to the St. Aloysius Flashes Friday night in a pivotal MHSAA Division 7-1A game for both teams.

On the road against its archrival, Cathedral more than held its own for the first three quarters.

“We led for 90 percent of the ball game until late in the fourth quarter,” Arnold said. “It’s just heartbreaking.”

Instead of going to the free-throw line and having an opportunity to give Cathedral the lead, Wyatt Boothe was called for tracing — which didn’t make any sense to Arnold.

“Just gut-wrenching to have to absorb that call,” Arnold said. There’s no way in the world Wyatt shouldn’t have been at the line with five seconds left shooting free throws.”

At the end of regulation, the game was tied at 66-66 and Cathedral had to get recomposed for overtime. And the Green Wave found themselves trailing by two with time running down and at the free-throw line. But this time, it was not meant to be.

“With 12 seconds to go in overtime, we got fouled and missed both free throws. They got the ball and made a shot as time expired,” Arnold said. “We have to get this behind us and get ready for St. Joe Madison.

Both Boothe and R.J. Givens scored 18 points while Alex Weadock chipped in with 13 points for the Green Wave.

Cathedral (4-7, 3-2) hosts St. Joe Madison Monday night.

Trinity Episcopal 77, Tensas Academy 46

ST. JOSEPH — For a good portion of the first quarter, Trinity Episcopal did not score a single point. Yet somehow, the Saints overcame a 16-0 deficit to defeat the Tensas Academy Chiefs 77-46 Friday night in an MAIS District 7-A game.

As for what led to the bad start by Trinity Episcopal, Saints head coach Zach Rogel said, “It was a combination of us coming out very slow and their defense. I called a timeout, and we got going.”

Trinity outscored Tensas Academy 22-8 in the third quarter and 17-5 in the fourth quarter to complete the turnaround. Cade Wells had a double-double for the Saints with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

“Cade stepped up for us. He understands his role on the team,” Rogel said. “He doesn’t score a lot. He gets a lot of rebounds. He wins all the 50-50 balls. Tonight showed when he does his role, good things can happen.”

The Saints were led in scoring by the duo of Jakarius Caston and Demond Fleming with 21 points each.

Rogel said they play off each other, whether it be forcing turnovers or rebounding the ball to start a fast break. David Jackson contributed with 11 points.

Vidalia 74, Jena 67

VIDALIA — Julius Wilson led Vidalia High School with a game-high 23 points and Overton Lewis had 19 points as the Vikings rallied in the second half to defeat the Jena High School Giants 74-67 Friday night for their first win in LHSAA District 3-3A.

“We were down 14 points in the third quarter. We went to a full-court press. Got a few steals. Got some easy baskets. That’s what got us back in the game,” Vikings head coach Robert Sanders said. “We also hit some timely free throws down the stretch in the fourth quarter.”

The first quarter saw plenty of scoring from both teams. When the quarter was over, Jena had an 18-16.

Then the Giants started to take control of the game on both ends of the court and outscored the Vikings 21-11 for a 39-27 halftime lead. But once Jena’s lead got up to 14 points early in the third quarter, Vidalia started to whittle away at it.

“They hit some open threes. That was our fault. We knew who their shooters were. We didn’t cover them like we should have,” Sanders said. “They also went to the hole and got some three-point plays.”

Vidalia ended up outscoring Jena 22-13 in the third quarter and 25-15 in the fourth quarter. Malik Jefferson poured in 13 points for the Vikings.

Sanders said that Lewis, Demarco Brown and Julian Wilson each stepped up in different ways in the second half.

“Julian played good defense,” Sanders said. “Overton got offensive rebounds and putbacks. Demarco once he came off the bench. He was in foul trouble in the first half.”

Natchez High 69,

Pearl River Central 45

CARRIERE — Daryl Jones led all scorers with 22 points and Micheal Morris had 18 points as the Natchez High Bulldogs took care of the Pearl River Central Blue Devils 69-45 Friday night in an MHSAA Division 6-5A game.

Not only did Natchez High have three players score in double figures, but its defense showed up big time in the first and third quarters. The Bulldogs held the Blue Devils to just six points in the first quarter and five in the third quarter.

Dominique Mazique added 14 points for the Bulldogs, who had a 20-6 lead at the end for the first quarter and 47-26 by the end of the third quarter. Pearl River Central was led by Donte Stephens with 16 points and Alex Travis with 11 points.

Natchez High (10-4, 3-1) plays host to Brookhaven High School Friday night.

Ferriday 69, Jonesboro-Hodge 54

JONESBORO, La. — Dantrieze Scott led five Ferriday players in double figures with a game-high 17 points as the Trojans pulled away in the second half for a 69-54 win over the Jonesboro-Hodge Tigers Friday night in LHSAA District 2-2A action.

Jashon Foster and Ronald Davis had 13 points apiece while Kelly Brooks and Ronald Williams chipped in with 10 points each for Ferriday.

However, the Trojans found themselves trailing Jonesboro-Hodge 33-30 at halftime before outscoring the Tigers 22-8 in the momentum-changing third quarter to grab a 52-41 advantage.

“We had balanced scoring again tonight,” Trojans head coach K.G. Watkins said. “Defensively, we had a rocky first half. But then they came out and played better in the second half.”

Wilkinson County 61, Jefferson County 49

WOODVILLE — Desmond Hunter led Wilkinson County High School with a game-high 16 points and LeHendric Bruster had 14 points as the Wildcats defeated the Jefferson County High School Tigers 61-49 in an MHSAA Division 7-3A game Friday night.

Wilkinson County fell behind Jefferson County 16-13 after one quarter of play before the Wildcats outscored the Tigers 16-10 in the second quarter to take a 29-26 lead into halftime. The Wildcats kept the momentum going in the second half as they put up 18 points in the third quarter and 14 points in the fourth quarter while holding the Tigers to 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Christian Day led the Tigers with 14 points and Akeem Williams finished with 13 points.

Jefferson County (N/A, 2-2) plays host to Franklin County next Tuesday night. Wilkinson County (7-10, 2-2) hosts Wesson next Tuesday night.

Centreville Academy 60,

Silliman Institute 50

CENTREVILLE — John Gray led Centreville Academy with a game-high 18 points and Austin Addington had 10 points as the Tigers held on for a 60-50 win over the Silliman Institute Wildcats Friday night in an MAIS District 6-AA game.

With the win, Centreville Academy wrapped up the No. 3 seed for the district tournament, which begins Feb. 2.

The Tigers dominated Silliman in the first half in gaining a 28-17 lead at halftime.

Centreville Academy (11-8, 5-3) plays at Trinity Episcopal next Tuesday night.

Block 72, LaSalle 43

JONESVILLE — Chris Holmes led four Block players in double figures with 15 points as the Bears rolled to a 72-43 win over the LaSalle Tigers in an LHSAA District 3-1A game Friday night.

Block led LaSalle 14-6 after one quarter of play before exploding for 23 points in the second quarter en route to a 37-21 halftime advantage. The Bears continued to add to their lead in the second half.

Block (11-9, 2-3) plays host to St. Mary’s Tuesday night in a pivotal matchup.