Ferriday head coach James Davis had to pause a bit when asked about his team’s last game.

The Trojans didn’t play a game last week, partly due to Christian Life’s removal from the playoffs due to an ineligible player. It was actually the week prior when they downed Lake Providence in a District 4-2A tie-breaker on Feb. 20.

So if you’re counting, that’s 10 days off since their last action before they host Rayville at 7 p.m. tonight in a Class 2A second-round playoff contest.

&uot;I think the kids will be ready to play,&uot; Davis said. &uot;They hadn’t played in a whole week. We may be a little rusty, or we could come out with fresh legs and explode. We’ve just been practicing, man. We’ve been maintaining most practices at an up tempo. We’ve had some pretty good practices.&uot;

But off or on, the Trojans have a good idea of what they’re facing in tonight’s contest. Already familiar with the Hornets after both teams were in District 3-2A, the Trojans have a better idea after Davis scouted them in their 87-80 win over Jonesboro-Hodge on Friday.

&uot;They shoot the ball extremely well from the perimeter,&uot; Davis said. &uot;They shoot a lot of 3s and make them. They’re a good ball club, and they’re well-coached. They’re young &045; they don’t have a senior. They’ve got a big guy underneath that they go to some, but we’ll have to play extremely, extremely well. We’ll have to execute on defense, and that’s very important.&uot;

That big post underneath could end up being a big concern for Davis and the Trojans, a team that lacks that sizeable force on the block. But it’s been like that all season, and the Trojans have responded since late in the regular season with hot shooting from the perimeter to answer.

The Trojans took the win over Lake Providence but played well in losses to Vidalia and McCall, two teams who like to take it inside.

&uot;I think if our kids come to play and play with the tempo we played with against McCall, it’ll be a competitive game,&uot; Davis said. &uot;Before the McCall game we had started playing well. We played Vidalia and shot the ball well from the perimeter. We didn’t take anything away from Vidalia, but McCall was looking to go inside. We shot the ball well from the perimeter with McCall &045; that’s what happened.&uot;

The Hornets, however, can come with the press and have given teams problems. In that win over J-H, the Hornets put up 27 points in the fourth quarter to take the win and got big games from Antwuan James and Justin Lawson, who accounted for 26 points apiece.

&uot;We’ve got to take away something &045; either the inside game or the outside game,&uot; Davis said.

Vidalia at Episcopal

The talk probably started immediately. Episcopal with 6-7 standout Chris Gomez is a tough team to beat, and the wild card Knights stormed to a 63-45 win over District 2 champion Rapides.

&uot;They’re described as the toughest district in the state this year,&uot; VHS head coach Robert Sanders said. &uot;I was kind of surprised they were a wild card selection. I’ve seen some film on them. The Gomez kid has signed with Tulane, and he seems to be their main threat.&uot;

The Knights had a tough go through District 8 with powerhouses University High claiming the title and Christian Life finishing second before getting exiled from the playoffs. U-High crushed Springfield, 92-45, in the first round.

Much of the Knights’ success is due to Gomez, the player who nudged out U-High star center Glenn Davis for the district player of the year award a year ago.

&uot;He plays all three positions at some point during the game,&uot; Sanders said of Gomez. &uot;He never comes out and defends guards on occasion.&uot;