FERRIDAY, La. – A fourth-quarter surge and a spark off the bench helped the Vidalia Lady Vikings defeat the Ferriday Lady Trojans 71-63 Saturday in the final round of the Coca-Cola/Ferriday High School Invitational

Tourney, retribution for Ferriday’s Dec. 2 win of Vidalia’s Ronnie Brown Invitational Tournament.

&uot;They got us in our tournament, so we got them in theirs,&uot; said Vidalia’s Kitrina Singleton, whose nine points and four steals – all in the fourth quarter – helped the Lady Vikings to a 12-0 run that put Vidalia on top for good.

&uot;She did a real good job on defense,&uot; Vidalia head coach Lillian Johnson said of Singleton. &uot;She had a few steal and was able to come off the bench and score some points for us.&uot;

Vidalia needed every point it could get, trailing Ferriday 45-43 at the end of the third quarter. But Vidalia took a quick lead when Natalie McGraw, who finished with a team-high 25 points, drained a three-pointer to earn the first of the team’s 28 points in the final period.

Vidalia (10-4) started the game strong, turning a 13-0 first-quarter run into 21-10 second-quarter lead. But Ferriday’s Monique Jones answered with 13 points in the quarter to bring the Lady Trojans to within three at halftime.

Jones finished the game with a game-high 29 points. LaShawnda Leonard added another 19.

&uot;Determination. That’s the word for tonight,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;We were determined to prove a point. We wanted to prove we could beat them.&uot;

Brendy Ellis turned in another impressive performance for the Lady Vikings with 20 points and five steals, enough to earn her tournament MVP honors.

The taller Ferriday (7-6) team owned the boards for most of the game. Jones and Shanell Jones combined for 36 rebounds between them, equaling the Lady Viking’s team total. However, the quicker Vidalia team notched 24 steals to Ferriday’s 10, proving a factor in the fourth quarter.