From

staff reporTS

FERRIDAY &8212; The timing couldn&8217;t have been better to try out two zone presses.

After Ferriday tried to go man up with a powerful Excelsior Christian team Monday night, head coach James Davis figured now was the time to pull back some and play a 1-2-2 or a 1-3-1 zone press.

The 20-point loss worked out well. The Trojans jumped out early and took a 52-37 win over Block Tuesday night.

&8220;It&8217;s something we had to work on,&8221; Davis said. &8220;We hadn&8217;t had an opportunity to work on it. We&8217;ve been working on man a lot. We saw what we needed to see. We still need to work on it, though. For the most part, we did what we had to do &8212; and that was get the win.&8221;

The press set the tone early &8212; just as it&8217;s done so many times this season &8212; as the Trojans ran out to a 20-2 lead in the first quarter before Eric Crump&8217;s bucket with nine seconds left gave his team a 20-point lead heading into the second.

LaKenyon Russ got a steal late in the second quarter and got a layup out of it for a 31-13 lead at the 1:06 mark.

But when things slowed down and the Bears stayed in a 2-3 zone in the halfcourt, things slowed down as well for the Trojans on the offensive end. The Bears got 3-pointers from Johnnie Lee and Marcus Curry to help work the deficit down to 11 points when Matt Johnson&8217;s bucket put the score at 36-25 at the 4:33 mark.

Wilkinson girls 51, Jefferson 27

FAYETTE &8212; Toni Anthony is picking her game up, and that&8217;s made things complete. Everyone is coming together for the Lady Wildcats, head coach Edwin White said.

Wilkinson jumped out to a 14-7 lead after one and 24-14 lead at half before putting the it away in the fourth with an 18-4 edge. Anthony had 19 points.

&8220;Everybody is playing their role and playing as one unit,&8221; White said. &8220;It&8217;s just that intensity is so much better now. At one point I wondered if it was something I was doing as far as not reaching them. The kids realized they had it in them all along.&8221;

Jefferson boys 72, Wilkinson 37

FAYETTE &8212; The Tigers got hot early, and Joseph Kemp&8217;s 22 points paved the way for a one-sided win Tuesday.

Jefferson led 17-5 after one, 35-12 at half and 61-26 heading into the fourth quarter.