VIDALIA — Once again, it was down to the last minute.

The Vidalia Vikings (14-5, 1-0) defeated the Bunkie Panthers 54-52 in their first district game of the year.

“Our guys pulled together in the face of adversity,” Vidalia head coach Robert Sanders said. “It was a total team effort.”

A combination of poor shot selection and foul trouble led to Bunkie grabbing an early lead over the Vikings.

Bunkie led by eight at the half and it looked like they were in control of the game heading into the third quarter.

Vidalia came out swinging in the third quarter to overcome the eight point deficit and led by two at the end of the quarter.

Bunkie fought hard and gave it all they had, but Vidalia fended off the Panthers in the final seconds of the game to pull out the win.

“It was a tough game,” acting head coach David Dyson said. “Vidalia needs to put more people in the stands, because this was exciting.”

Brandon Hawkins led Vidalia once again with 16 points while Quartrell Thomas added 15.

Romanoski Williams was the leading scorer for Bunkie with 16 points and Antonio Davis chipped in 11.

Bunkie girls 36, Vidalia 23

Offensive struggles were the name of the game for the Vidalia Lady Vikings as they couldn’t overcome the Bunkie Lady Panthers in Vidalia.

The first quarter ended with the two teams tied up, but Bunkie had a strong second quarter to put them up by six at the half.

Bunkie didn’t have much offense either, but used their defensive game plan to hold the Lady Vikings to 11 total points in the second half.

“Patience was the key to our strategy,” Bunkie head coach Renee Bell said.

Rachael Wagoner led the Lady Vikings with 12 points while her sister Gabrielle added six. The only other Lady Viking to score was Dejanae Harris with five.

Kirstie Gaspard was the leading scorer for Bunkie with 13 while Tabitha Kyle added five.