By matt sigler

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ — Down by 20 points at halftime, Cathedral middle school coach Patrick McDonough challenged his team to put up a fight in the second half.

The Green Wave were able to claw back into the game, but fell short against their opponent St. Aloysius, 34-27.

“Overall it was a decent performance,” McDonough said. “We came out flat and that killed us. But like I was telling them at the end, it was too little, too late, but the effort they put forward was great.”

The Green Wave found themselves in an early hole, being held to just five points in the first half, while surrendering 25 to St. Al.

However, Cathedral returned the favor in the second half, limiting the Flashes to just nine points, including only one point in the fourth quarter.

“I told them we had to come out and rebound, and when we got the ball inside, we had to finish,” McDonough said of his halftime speech.

Cathedral responded and dominated the fourth quarter, putting up 15 points.

However, time was against the Green Wave, as they ran out down seven points.

“The way they came back at the end was phenomenal,” McDonough said. “We’ve got a bunch of kids still trying to learn the game, but the effort is what set everything off. They want to come out and learn.”

Ben White led Cathedral with 10 points and teammate Chase Kaiser chipped in with eight of his own.

St. Al (girls) 29, Cathedral 19

NATCHEZ — The Cathedral middle school Lady Wave were held to just six points through three quarters by St. Aloysius and eventually fell in the contest 29-19.

Shatajma Doss led the Lady Wave with six points and teammates Hailey Ellis and Ryleigh Probst each chipped in with four points.

“I thought they hustled well,” Cathedral coach Craig Beesley said. “We just couldn’t get shots to fall early in the game. I was glad to see them play hard all the way to the end, though.”

Beesley said the Lady Wave and Lady Flashes will meet up again on the court soon, and believes Cathedral will put up another fight.

“We’ve got to play them again Monday, so hopefully we can come out and play a little better,” Beesley said.