VIDALIA, La — Ferriday High’s boys jumped out to a 22-point first half lead and held off a furious Vidalia second half rally as the Trojans defeated the Vikngs 78-75 Tuesday in a contest that had 59 total fouls and five players foul out.

&uot;Vidalia has some explosive players and we knew we had to jump out fast,&uot; said Ferriday coach James M. Davis. &uot;It was important we were able to get our inside game established.&uot;

Vidalia’s girls won the battle of unbeaten District 3-2A teams, defeating Ferriday 55-47.

In the boys contest, both teams came out turning the ball over. Jason Scott hit three baskets to push the Trojans to an 11-3 lead.

Vidalia’s Jarvis Vaughn picked up three fouls in the first quarter and would pick up his fourth in the second period.

Ferriday led 18-10 after one quarter of play.

Vidalia continued struggling in the second quarter, hitting only 4 of 13 shots, while Scott scored nine on his own as the Trojans led 41-21 at halftime.

&uot;We couldn’t make a free throw or a layup in the first half,&uot; said Vidalia coach Robert Sanders.

Ferriday led 49-30 in the third quarter, when Sanders sent Vaughn, Ronald Ellis, Derrick Johnson and Dariel Mays, all with four fouls, back into the game.

The Vikings cut the lead to 54-41, but Williams fouled out with 2:48 remaining in the period and Vaughn went out with 2:15 to play.

Ferriday 5-foot-4 freshman point guard LaKendrick Nix then went to work, scoring three straight baskets to help Ferriday back to a 61-48 lead.

&uot;LaKendrick has been handling the ball well all year,&uot; Davis said. &uot;And he’s just going to get better.&uot;

But Ellis got heated up early in the final period, hitting eight of Vidalia’s first nine points to pull the Vikings to within 67-56 with 5:22 remaining.

Scott fouled out with 4:38 remaining and Ellis pulled Vidalia to within 69-66 with 3:58 left.

Nix helped put the Trojans back up 76-68, but Ellis hit two free throws and Terrell Williams made a layup after a steal to put the Vikings within 76-73 with 34 seconds left.

Chris Kennedy hit a basket with 20 seconds showing to pull Vidalia within 77-75.

Nix hit one of two free throws and Vidalia had one more chance to tie with 10.3 seconds to play.

Ellis put up a 3-pointer that bounced off the back of the rim and A.J. Warner grabbed the rebound and tried a turn around shot from behind the 3-point line that also just bounced off.

&uot;We tried to make a run and the guys showed a lot of heart in the second half,&uot; Sanders said.

Ellis led Vidalia with 27 points, while Warner and Mays added 19 and 12 points, respectively.

Vidalia, ranked No. 3 in the state, fell to 23-3 overall and 2-2 in the district.

Ferriday improved to 17-8 and 3-1.

The Trojans were led by Nix with 24 and Scott with 19.

In the girls contest, both teams came out sluggish as Ferriday jumped out to a 14-4 lead.

Vidalia cut that lead to 24-18 at halftime.

The Lady Vikings pulled to within 33-31 at the end of the third quarter to set up the exciting finish.

Vidalia’s Natalie McGraw tied the game at 43-43 with 3:07 remaining.

Brendy Ellis put the Lady Vikings up 45-43 before Monique tied the game at 45-45 with a basket.

Torisheka Taylor put Ferriday up 47-45 with 1:48 remaining, but McGraw would put the Lady Vikings back up 48-47 with 54.9 to play.

Brittnay Williams a free throw for Vidalia and an intentional foul allowed the Lady Vikings to pull away for the win.

McGraw led the Lady Vikings (19-5, 4-0) with 17 points. Ellis added 16.

&uot;This is the first time that we came out this nervous,&uot;&160;said Vidalia coach Lillian Johnson. &uot;But the girls did what they had to do. It’s a victory and we’ll take it any way we can get it.&uot;

Ferriday (18-9, 3-1) was led by Taylor with 18, while Jones added 17.

&uot;We turned the ball over way too much,&uot;&160;said Ferriday coach Lisa Abron. &uot;And we lost out composure. We just have to learn from this one.&uot;

Vidalia hosts top-rated McCall Friday, while Ferriday hosts Crowville in district action.

Ferriday and Vidalia meet again Feb. 11 in Ferriday, La.