VIDALIA, La. &045; After having to wait about a month, Vidalia’s boys basketball team finally played its first game of the season Tuesday night.

Unfortunately, the long football season seemed to play a part in the Vikings’ 71-66 loss to the visiting Winnsboro Wildcats at the Vidalia gym.

At least that’s how Vikings head coach Robert Sanders saw it.

&uot;Our aggressiveness from football is still showing,&uot; Sanders said. &uot;We had two foul out in the fourth quarter.&uot;

Vidalia (0-1) trailed by just one, 14-13, after one quarter of play, but the Wildcats outscored the Vikings 19-12 in the second quarter to take a 33-25 lead at the break.

Tony Hawkins led Vidalia with 17 points. C.J. Williams had 16 points and Ken Johnson added 10 points for the Vikings.

Winnsboro led by nine going after three quarters, but the Wildcats had to withstand a fourth-quarter rally by Vidalia to hold on for the win.

Kendrich Stroughton led Winnsboro with 20 points.

Jefferson Co. 44, PGHS 34

FAYETTE &045; The Tigers looked sluggish in two quarters and dominating in the other two quarters, but they did just enough to take a win in the Division 7-3A opener for both teams.

Joshfer Nichols led the Tigers with 20 points and Joseph Kemp added 10 points.

Jefferson County trailed Port Gibson 7-6 at the end of the first quarter, but the Tigers seemed to take control of the game by outscoring the Blue Waves 17-4 in the second quarter for a 23-11 halftime lead.

But the Blue Waves wouldn’t go away quietly as they outscored the Tigers 14-6 in the third quarter to cut the lead to four going into the fourth quarter.

CHA 61, East Rankin 57

PELAHATCHIE &045; It’s been several years since the Chamberlain-Hunt Wildcats have had a good team and a winning record, but this season’s team may very well reverse that trend.

Chamberlain-Hunt got 33 points from Joseph Porter, who had his fourth straight game of at least 30 points.

Billy Savell and Billy Smith added 10 points each for the Wildcats.

The Wildcats jumped out to an 18-13 lead at the end of the first quarter and then led 31-24 at halftime over the Patriots (5-7, district record not available).

However, East Rankin got back in the game by outscoring the Wildcats 16-12 in the third quarter and trailed by just three going into the fourth quarter.

But the Wildcats hung on by outscoring the Patriots 18-16 in the final quarter.

Trinity 55, Huntington 36

NATCHEZ &045; It seemed like the Hounds had their best chance to defeat their cross-river, MPSA District 7-A rival in several years with Trinity not having Chase Brown and Dudley Guice Jr. in the Saints lineup.

But even without those two, the Saints still maintained their dominance of the Hounds with a 19-point win Tuesday night at Clyde Adams Arena.

Gregory Ketchings led Trinity with 18 points.

And even though Brad Gardner had just seven points, he had 17 rebounds.

Trinity led just 9-6 at the end of the first quarter, but the Saints turned what some thought would be a close game into a rout as they outscored the Hounds 23-6 in the second quarter.

Even though Huntington was only outscored by one point in the second half, no Hounds player scored in double figures, with Mike Ferguson leading the way for the visitors with seven points.

Ferriday 60, Newellton 50

NEWELLTON, La. &045; The Trojans trailed heading into the fourth quarter but outscored the Bears 19-6 there to take the win.

Newellton led 31-26 at halftime before the Trojans started warming up and held a 16-13 edge in the third to trim the lead to 44-41 heading into the fourth quarter.

Ladrian Davis led Ferriday with 26. Carnell Hill led Newellton with 17.

St. Aloysius 54, Cathedral 45

NATCHEZ &045; A third-quarter swoon proved costly for the Green Wave as the Flashes took the victory in the first region game for both teams and the first meeting of the two archrival parochial school squads.

The Green Wave (2-7, 0-1) trailed 26-24 at halftime before getting outscored 14-4 in the third with the Flashes holding a 40-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Anthony Rector led the Flashes (2-6, 1-0) with 18 points. Russell Barmer led Cathedral with 17.