Adams County Christian School had a plan Friday night, and it made the plan work.

The Rebels used an early defensive attack, stripping balls from cross-town rival Cathedral for a 65-53 win at home.

“The plan was to win,” ACCS coach Richy Spears said. “We needed to put some pressure and make it hard on them, and I thought we did that.”

The Green Wave held on through the first quarter, trailing by just one point at the break 10-9. Once ACCS (8-5, 2-0) was able to force a handful of key turnovers, it used its speed to make easy baskets and open the second period on a 7-0 run.

“We are better when we are running it, and we were able to get some tips and hustle plays,” Spears said.

While Cathedral coach Matthew Hall said the Green Wave (8-14, 2-1) also had a plan Friday, it didn’t quite go so smoothly.

ACCS senior Josh Day led the Rebels with 27 points, with multiple buckets coming on breakaways. While the early lead pushed ACCS ahead, it was then able to slow down the attack and feed inside shots to Dawson Parker — a junior who ended the game with 10 points.

“We needed to stop (Day),” Hall said. “To be honest, they really got us with Parker in the middle. He did really well, and then a couple of turnovers and they get run outs.”

Spears added while the Rebels do have a hard time slowing down, they were able to reap the benefits.

Yohan Thompson added another four points for ACCS in the paint, as Julian Wilson also ended in double digits with 12 points.

“We knew we had to protect the lane,” Spears said. “Dawson had one of his better games today attacking the goal.”

Ty Tobias led Cathedral’s efforts with 20 points, and J.T. Taylor added another 15 of his own.

Hall said though he saw his team drive, they had a hard time keeping up.

“It wasn’t that our guys weren’t ready to play,” he said. “I thought that (ACCS) came out with a little more momentum early. It happens when you play at home — Friday night, big crowd.”

Moving forward, Hall still has a plan for his team.

With the loss, the Green Wave broke its perfect district record, set to play district opponent Silliman Institute on Tuesday and ACCS again on Feb. 6.

“We get another shot at them,” Hall said. “They have to come to our house now and hopefully our crowd will be ready to rock and roll. We have got to hold our court at home.”

Spears isn’t wasting any time looking forward, either.

The Rebels travel to Central Private Tuesday.

“We have to just understand a few situations better,” he said. “We have to get better, because both (Cathedral) and Silliman are going to be tough. We have to understand what we are trying to do.”