Perhaps no team in the girls MAIS AA playoffs faced as many stingy tests as Trinity Episcopal did this season.

The Lady Saints (14-10) pre-district schedule was littered with games against higher classification schools.

And the reason for the difficult scheduling, Trinity girls coach Fay Minor says, is to prepare her squad for now what’s ahead of them.

Trinity is slated to face Union Christian Academy at 6:30 p.m. today in Tallulah, La., in an opening round playoff game.

“I think our girls are comfortable,” Minor said. “We tried to tackle as many AAA and AAAA schools before we went into district. Our team is pretty healthy, and we’ve been shooting well. We just have to keep it up.”

Trinity faced off against UCA in late January, with the Lady Saints emerging with a 41-31 road win.

“They have a really good team,” Minor said. “It’s a young team, a seventh grader leads them, but she’s really good. We struggled early on but came out in the second half and took control.”

After trailing at the half 23-22, the Lady Saints seized command with a 12-4 third-quarter spurt.

“They’re well-coached and disciplined, but I think we just have to be patient on the offensive end and let the game come to us,” Minor said. “We have to take advantage of what they give us.”

Trinity (boys) 

vs. Claiborne Academy

Just as the girls team, the Trinity boys squad will be facing a familiar opponent.

The Saints (18-4) take on Claiborne Academy at 5:15 p.m. at Tallulah.

“We’ve been working hard all year to get to this point,” Trinity boys coach Andy Blair said. “It’s tournament time.”

Trinity beat Tallulah 63-17 on Dec. 8 in an early season tournament. The Saints dominated throughout, holding the Rebels to single digits in all four periods.

“It’s February, and the stakes are a little higher,” Blair said. “We have to be on our best game.”

Jakarius Caston led Trinity in scoring that game with 20 points. And just in the past few weeks, the Saints have received a boost with the addition of Kevontaye Caston, Jakarius’ brother. In this past Friday’s regular-season finale, the senior guard scored 15 points to help lead TE to a district championship.

“He brings a lot of things, including senior leadership,” Blair said of Kevontaye. “He’s still a little rusty, but he’s got tremendous speed, and you can’t duplicate that speed. He’s just one more speedy defender that we can put out there and try to smother opponents.”

Blair added that defense will be the key for his team not only tonight but throughout the postseason.

“If we’re able to contain teams by pressuring them in the half and full court, then we have a good chance to beat anybody,” he said.