Trojans one win away from title

By Jeff Edwards (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Saturday, March 8, 2008

FERRIDAY — The Ferriday Trojans have been on a roll since the middle of December, winning 22 games in a row.

However, coach K.G. Watkins knows his team will have to play its best game of the year if they want to take home their first state championship trophy since 1989.

The sixth seeded Trojans will face No. 1 seed St. Thomas Aquinas at 6:30 tonight at the Cajundome in Lafayette, La. for the Class 2A state championship.

The Falcons of St. Thomas Aquinas bring a 38-1 record into the game and have rolled through the tournament, dispatching fourth seeded Many 68-47 in the semifinal game Thursday night.

“We’ve got to beat the best in order to win the state title,” Watkins said. “They are the defending state champions and expect to be here. We realize it’s going to be an uphill battle.”

Watkins and his team did have a chance to watch the Falcons in their semifinal win over Many, and know what they can do.

“They are very disciplined and patient,” Watkins said. “They are small but quick and like to run on you.”

In fact, St. Thomas Aquinas’ starting lineup averages only 6-feet tall, but makes up for it with their quickness. They had 16 steals in their 21-point win over Many in the semifinals.

“They run a lot of sets and press on defense very well,” Watkins said. “They are a well balanced, disciplined and well coached team.”

Ferriday (28-7) is on a roll of its own with an amazing 22-game winning streak and hasn’t lost since a 56-52 defeat against Vidalia on Dec. 15.

“I’ve been saying all season that I’ve got a group of very good kids,” Watkins said. “They are coachable, basketball-minded players. I knew what they brought to the court. Once we got focused in December, we accomplished a lot.”

Ferriday has relied on its defense to carry them through their winning streak, and hope it will come through one more time.

“We’ve been strong defensively all year,” Watkins said. “We haven’t had a lot of high-scoring games. We’re going to try and do the same thing against St. Thomas Aquinas. We have to be flawless on defense and execute on offense as well. We don’t want to have a shootout with these guys.”