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NATCHEZ — Cathedral High School’s varsity boys’ basketball team was without two of its key players last Friday night in a pivotal MAIS District 3-5A match-up on the road against the cross-town rival Adams County Christian School Rebels.

While the first quarter went back and forth between Cathedral and ACCS, from the second quarter on the Rebels, led by Landon McGuire, Trenton Davis, and Edarius Green, showed no mercy on the Green Wave in a 68-33 victory.

“I was proud of our guys. But I don’t want to take credit for the win. Cathedral was missing their No. 1 player, Kaden Batieste, and they still don’t have Mason Moore, who’s out for the year with a knee injury,” Rebels head coach Matthew Freeman said. “I’m pretty sure we’ll see them again in the district tournament. It will be a completely different game then.”

ACCS could not pull away from an undermanned Cathedral team in the first quarter and only led 13-10 by the end of the quarter. Then the Rebels turned up their defensive pressure and intensity on the Green Wave in the second quarter.

And that, in turn, led to easy lay-ups for the Rebels as they outscored the Green Wave 21-8 in the second quarter for a 34-18 halftime lead. The onslaught continued in the third quarter as ACCS put up 20 points while Cathedral managed just nine points, giving the Rebels a comfortable 54-27 lead.

McGuire led all scorers with 21 points while Davis finished with 18 points and Green chipped in with 13 points.

“I’m proud of the offense and the defense holding them under double digits in three of the four quarters,” Freeman said. “On offense, Landon, Trenton, and ‘Big E’ carried the load. They were unstoppable.”

Even though the Rebels didn’t score as many points in the fourth quarter as they did the previous two quarters, they still outscored the Green Wave 14-6.

The Green Wave (no records available) played host to the archrival and District 3-5A opponent St. Aloysius High School Flashes at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The Rebels improved to 10-6 overall and 3-2 in district play. They played at Silliman Institute in Clinton, La. in non-district action at 7:30 p.m. before hitting the road to Raymond to take on District 3-5A for Central Hinds Academy at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.