FERRIDAY, La. &045; Ever notice how something that seemed so far away can sneak up on you all of a sudden?

That didn’t happen here.

Since the season began in November &045; and probably since the end of last season &045; the Ferriday Lady Trojans have been waiting for today, the start of District 3-2A play as prep basketball continues tonight.

The Lady Trojans (20-0) open up league play today at Vidalia, and from there it’s on to tough matches with Rayville and McCall that stand between them and the playoffs.

&uot;My expectations are high,&uot; Ferriday head coach Lisa Abron said. &uot;We want to accomplish that goal of making it to the Sweet 16 again, and the way we get there is by winning our district. We’ll take it one game at a time and try to do the best we can. We’ll try to out-run our opposition, shake them up a little bit, cause turnovers early and put them out of their misery early.&uot;

That’s been the attack plan so far this season, and the Lady Trojans have had little difficulty reaching the point they’re at right now. Several games have been blowouts, giving younger players more opportunities to get time on the floor.

Now the Lady Trojans will turn their attention to their district opponents, namely Rayville and McCall, two of the better teams in the loop. McCall may give the Lady Trojans the toughest matchup, but luckily for them both meetings are in Ferriday with McCall forced to play all of its district games on the road as per mandates handed down by the LHSAA.

Rayville lost its big girls underneath from last season, but McCall could be tough.

&uot;All I know is what they have returning from last year,&uot; Abron said. &uot;We’ve been sitting around watching films from last year. That (McCall) has always been a big rivalry for us. They’ve got to come to us twice, and we hope that works to our advantage. They match up with us size-wise, but they don’t have many good ball handlers. They had a freshman post last year, and we had a little trouble stopping her.&uot;

The Lady Trojans have the ball handlers, and they’re trying to get a little deeper around star guard Monique Jones. At times they have struggled with Jones not on the floor, and the team has tried to address that heading into district.

&uot;Champions are not made that way,&uot; Abron said. &uot;We’ve got the people that can shoot and play good defense. The seniors need to be good leaders. They need to step it up. We can’t depend on her to carry us. People will try to put her in foul trouble early, and that could present a problem for us.&uot;

Other key games are on tap tonight, including Vidalia’s boys opening up district at home against a scrappy Ferriday squad.

In MPSA, Adams County Christian School’s boys could use a win tonight at home when they host Parklane. Also, Huntington’s Lady Hounds can make it through the first round of district play undefeated tonight with a win at Tensas Academy.