Lady Trojans move into first

Published 12:46 am Wednesday, January 30, 2008

VIDALIA — The biggest game of the season for the Ferriday Lady Trojans wasn’t even played in their own gym because of water dripping from the ceiling. Instead, the game had to be played at the Vidalia High gym.

However, the Lady Trojans didn’t let that be a distraction at all as they dominated Lake Providence from the opening tip as they rolled to an 80-57 win and moved into a tie for first place with the Lady Panthers in District 2-2A.

Ferriday head coach Lisa Abron said the difference in this game and its two-point loss at Lake Providence two weeks ago was that her team decided not to wait until the second half to play Lady Trojans basketball.

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“We got a bad start in the first game. This time around we decided to control the boards,” Abron said. “It was a matter of us putting things together. They’ve been working hard in practice. We came out with a lot of intensity from beginning to end.”

Two other factors in the game was the team sharing the ball, which contributed to three players scoring in double figures, and the return of Ja’Lessia Davis to the lineup after missing the game against Natchez High with the flu.

Chante Poole led Ferriday (26-5, 4-1) with 24 points while Jasmine Upchurch had 23 points and Jasmine Butler finished with 18 points.

“I couldn’t ask for anything better than that,” Abron said. “She came in and gave us some quality time rebounding tonight. That’s what Lake Providence likes to do best – blocking out and getting rebounds.”

Tiffany Willis led Lake Providence (15-11, 4-1) with 18 points and Joslyn Allen had 13 points.

Ferriday’s district games at Sterlington have rescheduled for Saturday with the varsity girls game starting at noon and the varsity boys game to follow at 1:30 p.m.

Block 62, Northwood-Lena 19

JONESVILLE, La. — Shateca Collins scored a game-high 17 points and Arnesha Beard added 16 points as the Lady Bears improved to 4-2 in District 3-1A with a 43-point dismantling of the Lady Gators Tuesday night.

Block (12-10, 4-2) jumped out to a 19-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. That was as close as Northwood-Lena (0-5 in district play) would get the rest of the ball game. By halftime, the Lady Bears enjoyed a commanding 47-13 lead.

Tyra Jefferson had a solid game for Block as she scored 10 points. D. Turner led the Lad Gators with seven points and C. Williams had six points.

Cathedral 47, Dexter 44

TYLERTOWN — Kristian Dobard scored a game-high 24 points and Haley Forman chipped in with 11 points as the Lady Green Wave held off a late rally to defeat the Lady Bulldogs in Region 8-1A action Tuesday night at Salem.

After a back-and-forth first half in which neither team could pull away from the other, Cathedral (9-14, 4-4) outscored Dexter 15-6 in the third quarter to take a 33-25 lead.

However, Dexter wouldn’t go away quietly. Led by Robin Magee, the Lady Bulldogs scored 19 points in the fourth quarter and had their chance to send the game into overtime. But it wasn’t enough as the Lady Green Wave held on for the win.

Magee led Dexter with 20 points and Ashley Blackwell finished with eight points.

Franklin County 72, Wilkinson County 43

MEADVILLE — Paige Webster led four Lady Bulldogs players in double figures with 18 points while their defense held Toni Anthony to just 12 points as they defeated the Lady Wildcats in Region 7-3A action Tuesday night.

Monea Cameron had 17 points, Charlesia Houston scored 13 points and Monique Starks added 10 points for Franklin County, which rebounded from a tough loss to South Pike last Friday night.

Wilkinson County (10-12, 5-4) trailed by nine points at halftime despite allowing the Lady Bulldogs to score 21 points in the first quarter. However, the Lady Wildcats scored just two points while giving up 20 points in the third quarter.

Tyeshia Lee led Wilkinson County with 16 points and Santrice Jarvis scored eight points.

Tensas Academy 53, Franklin Academy 24

WINNSBORO, La. — Mary Miller Ratcliff and Jordan Leake led a balanced scoring attack with 14 and 13 points, respectively, as the Lady Chiefs hammered the Lady Cougars Tuesday night in MPSA District 6-A sub-district action.

Tensas Academy (15-9, 6-1) now needs a win at home over WCCA on Thursday night to clinch the No. 1 seed from the east part of the district in next week’s district tournament at Riverdale Academy.

The Lady Chiefs led the Lady Cougars by just five points after one quarter of play, but they continued to add to their lead as the game continued and their was nothing the Lady Cougars could do to get back in the game. Katy Little led the Lady Cougars with 11 points.

Tallulah Academy 53, Huntington 33

TALLULAH, La. — Led by Mary Givens and Anna Book, the Lady Trojans jumped out to a big lead and cruised to a 20-point win over the Lady Hounds in an MPSA District 6-A sub-district game Tuesday night.

Givens led all scorers with 20 points and Book chipped in with 10 points for Tallulah Academy, which dominated the first quarter on both ends of the court en route to an 18-4 lead and never looked back.

Phyllicia Woods had a double-double for Huntington (10-17, 4-4) with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but the Lady Hounds couldn’t get enough done offensively to get back in the game.