FERRIDAY — Any thoughts of Sicily Island pulling off an upset of Ferriday ended in the second quarter when the Trojans outscored the Tigers 25-3 en route to a 78-36 win Friday night.

“It’s the holidays. We came in a little sluggish,” Trojans head coach K.G. Watkins said. “Our defense was a little slow, but it got going in the second quarter. We played a very good defensive game.”

Ferriday (15-6), playing its first game in nearly a week, led Sicily Island by just one point at the end of the first quarter. But the Trojans put the game away in the second quarter thanks to their defense, which forced over 20 turnovers in the game.

Alrion McKell led four Ferriday players in double figures with a game-high 22 points. Montrell Tennessee finished with 14 points, Demarco Lewis had 13 points and Matthew Smith added 11 points.

While Sicily Island did play better offensively in the second half, its defense had no answer for Ferriday’s offense. Carlos Gray led the Tigers with 20 points.

“The kids ran well. We were able to capitalize with the fast break,” Watkins said. “I was pleased with the way we played. We won a couple of tournaments and we’ve won our last eight games. That gives us some confidence going into district. Hopefully, it will work to our advantage to have three of our first four district games at home.”

Ferriday opens up District 2-2A play Tuesday night at home against Sterlington.

Huntington boys 37, WCCA 36

FERRIDAY — Trying to go with the stall method to run out the clock with the lead almost backfired on the Hounds, but they were able to hold on for a narrow win over the Rams in MPSA District 6-A action Friday night.

“We tried to give it away,” Hounds head coach David Boydstun said. “We had a five-point lead and tried to spread it out. We turned it over a couple of times and they cut the lead to one.”

Then with seven seconds left, Martez Tolliver went to the free-throw line with an opportunity to win the game. Instead, he missed on the front end of a one-and-one and the Rams grabbed the rebound. However, they could not get off a good shot and Huntington escaped with the win.

Tyler Pere led Huntington (5-10, 1-1) with 19 points and Tolliver scored six points. Todd Gonda led WCCA (9-7, 1-1) with 11 points and Christopher Houghton had eight points.

Ferriday girls 67, Sicily Island 24

FERRIDAY — Jasmine Upchurch finished with 18 points and Ja’Lessia Davis had 16 points as the Lady Trojans geared up for District 2-2A play with a 43-point rout of the Lady Tigers Friday night.

However, it was one of the most unusual lopsided wins by a team in this area in recent years: Ferriday (20-4) shut out Sicily Island in the first quarter en route to a 17-0 lead. Then head coach Lisa Abron put her reserves in for the second quarter to give them some playing time.

“I took out all my starters in the second quarter and put in my second- and third-stringers,” Abron said. “We wanted to finish the non-district season with some emphasis on what we need to do to get ready for district.”

The Lady Trojans, as Abron put it, played like the Lady Tigers did in the first quarter and were outscored 11-4 and led by 10 at halftime. But then the Lady Trojans’ offense went into high gear in the third quarter and increased their lead to 36 points at the end of the quarter.

“At halftime we talked about it. They listened to what I said. We went to our up-tempo style. We play a lot better when we’re in our up-tempo style,” Abron said.

Jefferson County girls 46, Tylertown 45

TYLERTOWN — The Lady Tigers won their fourth game in a row and first in Region 7-3A Friday night, but just barely as they nearly let a nine-point lead slip away in the fourth quarter.

Jefferson County (6-10, 1-3) was hoping to continue its momentum after winning all three games at its own holiday tournament last week. After trailing 15-14 after one quarter of play, the Lady Tigers outscored Tylertown 26-16 over the next two quarters and appeared to be in control of the game as the fourth quarter got under way.

But the Lady Chiefs, who were also looking for their first win in region play, would not go away quietly. They outscored the Lady Tigers 14-6 in the final quarter, but the Lady Tigers managed to hold on for the one-point win.

Erin Wells led Jefferson County with 19 points and Brittany Wyatt had 10 points. Octavia Bearden led Tylertown (0-4 in Region 7-3A) with a game-high 26 points.

Wilkinson County boys 58, Jackson (La.) 40

WOODVILLE — Corey Anthony scored a game-high 27 points, but the Wildcats weren’t able to put away a pesky Chiefs team until the fourth quarter Friday night.

Wilkinson County took the lead for good in the second quarter, but Jackson (La.) hung tough throughout the first three quarters. The Wildcats led the Chiefs by just nine points at the end of the third quarter.

But the Wildcats outscored the Chiefs 18-9 in the fourth quarter to end any thoughts of a rally by Jackson.

Megal Covington had 16 points and Kenny Harden added 13 points for Wilkinson County. K. Washington and K. Dunn led Jackson with eight points each.

Huntington girls 57, WCCA 39

FERRIDAY — The Lady Hounds didn’t need a quarter or two to get their offense going. The Lady Rams wished they had as they fell behind 24-9 after one quarter of play and never had a chance after that in this District 6-A game Friday night.

Had the first quarter been a lot closer, WCCA would have had a chance to win the game. Especially since the Lady Rams were outscored by just three points the rest of the game.

Huntington’s defense played a key role in its win, holding WCCA to single-digit scoring in three of the four quarters. Phyllicia Woods led the Lady Hounds (8-12, 2-0) with 20 points while Donna Tarver had 13 points and Emilee Johns chipped in with 11 points.

The Lady Rams (6-12, 0-2) were led by Hannah Ashley with 12 points and Sam Pace with 10 points.

Tensas Academy girls 47, River Oaks 15

ST. JOSEPH, La. — Talk about a dominating defensive performance. The Lady Chiefs held the Lady Mustangs scoreless in the first and fourth quarters in a 32-point win Friday night.

Mary Miller Ratcliff led Tensas Academy (7-9) with a game-high 17 points while Kaitlen Emfinger and Jordan Leake scored eight points each. Tiffany Brown led River Oaks with 11 points.

But the story of this game was the defensive effort put on by the Lady Chiefs. Only once did River Oaks manage double-digit scoring in any of the four quarters. And that was the third quarter with 11 points. But even by the end of that quarter, Tensas had a commanding 38-15 lead.

Wilkinson County girls 52, Jackson (La.) 42

WOODVILLE — The Lady Chiefs played much better Friday night than they did a week ago at the Jefferson County Holiday Tournament, but the fourth quarter proved to be the difference as the Lady Wildcats rallied for the win.

Jackson (La.) led Wilkinson County by four points at halftime and still led by two, 35-33, at the end of the third quarter. But the Lady Wildcats would not be denied as they outscored the Lady Chiefs 19-7 in the fourth quarter to take the victory.

Toni Anthony scored a game-high 24 points and Santrice Jarvis had 10 points for Wilkinson County (8-7). C. Jones finished with 14 points and T. Whitfield added 13 points for Jackson.

Jefferson County boys 76, Tylertown 58

TYLERTOWN — The third quarter proved to be key for the Tigers as they outscored the Chiefs 27-14 to open up a close game en route to an 18-point win Friday night in Region 7-3A action.

Percy Turner led Jefferson County (12-9, 3-1) with 21 points while Kadon Day had 16 points and Davion Noble added 12 points. The Tigers led by just four points after one quarter of play and only seven points at halftime before pulling away in the third quarter.

Clathan Conerly led Tylertown with 14 points. Damian Magee, Dewayne Dillon and Bryon Hart scored eight points each.