FERRIDAY — After a sluggish first half, Ferriday’s ramped up its press defense and that lead to several transition baskets as the Lady Trojans took care of the Sicily Island Lady Tigers 66-34 Friday night.

Ferriday only led Sicily Island 9-6 at the end of the first quarter, but in the second quarter the Lady Trojans started to pull away as they outscored the Lady Tigers 12-5 for a 21-11 halftime lead.

“Our pressure defense picked up in the second half. The first half, we played around with them,” Ferriday head coach Lisa Abron said. “We managed to get a lot of turnovers and easy baskets. The second half we came out with a little more intensity and everybody seemed to know where to be.”

Led by sophomore guard Anasia Turner and senior guard LaKeshanna Harris, Ferriday went on a tear in the second half thanks to its 1-2-2 defense. When Sicily Island wasn’t turning the ball over, it was having a tough time getting shots to fall.

The Lady Trojans outscored the Lady Tigers 22-13 in the third quarter and 23-10 in the fourth quarter. Turner led Ferriday with 17 points and Harris finished with 15 points. Abron credited the duo for both setting up the defense and getting steals that led to one lay-up after another.

“Our guards, they stepped up big time in those areas. They have to do the most work,” Abron said. “We have a young team, so we’re going to take our lumps and bruises. But each game, I see a lot of improvement in our team in different areas. Tonight we worked on our press.”

Aniyah Brown led Sicily Island with a game-high 20 points, but the next high scorer for the Lady Tigers was Janisha Smith with five points.