WOODVILLE &045; Pick up a Webster’s for the meaning of &uot;blue-collar&uot; and your bound to find the Amite County basketball team picture.

The Trojans are far from flashy; they don’t have a marksman that can rifle 3-pointers; their interior is big, but not overly intimidating; and they are prone to turnovers.

However, the Trojans, led by head coach Earnest Ray, bring their lunch pails to the court every night and continue to stay atop the Region 7-3A standings practically under the radar.

Take Friday for example. No Amite County player reached double figures in scoring, but the Trojans put to bed another late rally from Wilkinson County for the 39-35 win.

&uot;We’ve been in tight ball games all year long,&uot; Ray said. &uot;We play good defense. I don’t have a lot of shooters, so we’ve got to play defense in order to earn our points off turnovers.&uot;

Defense is something Amite County (14-4, 8-1) is well-versed in. And the Trojans’ blanketing style was vital, as Wilkinson County (11-10, 7-4) took just its second lead of the game in the fourth period.

A finger-roll layup from Revon Jones with 4:31 remaining put Wilkinson County up 27-26, its first since Gemall Andrews opened the game with a 3-pointer way back in the first.

Jones, who played most of the night when Wildcat Bryant Spiller left late in the first with a badly sprained ankle, filled in nicely and finished with eight points.

&uot;Revon Jones really put us back in it,&uot; Wilkinson County head coach Henry Storey said. &uot;Maybe I should’ve called his number earlier in the night. From now on I will.&uot;

A triple from Jones minutes before his layup reduced his team’s deficit to four. His strong move to the hole for the lead stole the momentum, albeit briefly.

The Trojans responded with a 9-0 run to take a 35-27 lead with 1:52 left after Johnny Robinson converted the and-1 opportunity.

&uot;They never panic. I always tell them, ‘you’re only down two or three, but you’re never out of the game,’&uot; Ray said of his club. &uot;They play smart.&uot;

Andrews, who finished with a team-high nine points, tried to bring his mates back with his third trey of the game.

However, Amite County’s Ken Weathersby, whose nine was also a team high, made three of four free throws with less than a minute to ice the game.

Storey said the loss was a product of poor shooting. The Cats struggled throughout to find a rhythm, with no help from the perimeter except for Andrews’ hat trick.

Wilkinson County often went long stretches without a field goal, such as a span of more than eight minutes that carried over from the first and second quarters.

&uot;We had plenty of open jumpers, but none of them dropped,&uot; Storey said. &uot;We’re not going to beat anybody if we shoot like that. Like I told them at halftime, we were only down by five, but if we would’ve hit our shots we could’ve been up 15.&uot;

Both coaches said the game would’ve been different if Spiller had returned to the lineup, but each was unsure if the outcome would have followed.

&uot;I don’t think it would’ve changed it that much,&uot; Storey said. &uot;He can’t carry the whole team; that’s why it’s called a team. We had everything we wanted. We just couldn’t make a shot.&uot;

&uot;It would’ve been different, but I don’t think it would’ve changed anything,&uot; Ray said. &uot;Their offense goes through him, so his points would’ve taken away from someone else’s.&uot;

A combination of dribble-drive penetration and dominance on the boards allowed the Trojans to build their biggest lead of the game in the second period.

Amite post Gregory Hughes kept one of his teammates’ missed shots alive by tipping it out to himself, then finding a wide open Randy Moody for the layup to break a 6-all tie midway through the second.

A couple of possessions later, Timothy Robinson’s 18-footer put the Trojans up nine, 13-6, with 3:28 left before Wilkinson County was able shave it down to five, 15-10, as the half ended.

&uot;We let their guards penetrate into the middle, which created two-on-one situations,&uot; Storey said. &uot;If one of their guys missed, they had somebody there unguarded to follow up. It made it look like our big guys weren’t jumping, but it was really a predicament caused by our little guys.&uot;