JONESBORO, La. — Ferriday seniors Matthew Smith, Josh Upchurch and Montrell Tennessee stepped up big time in the fourth quarter as the Trojans rallied from a nine-point deficit to defeat the Jonesboro-Hodge Tigers 71-69 Friday night.

Smith finished with a game-high 26 points while Upchurch had 20 points and Tennessee chipped in with 13 points.

“It was a big win. They were 4-1 in district coming into the game and we were 5-0,” Trojans head coach K.G. Watkins said. “Seniors do what seniors do. The seniors were outstanding in the fourth quarter.

The match-up between the top two teams in District 2-2A certainly did not disappoint, although Ferriday didn’t play as well in the first half as it has recently. The Trojans were held to 14 points in both the first and second quarters and trailed by eight points at halftime.

But Ferriday’s offense woke up in the second half — much to the chagrin of Jonesboro-Hodge. The Trojans cut two points into the Tigers’ lead by the end of the third quarter and then outscored the Tigers 25-17 in the fourth quarter.

“They had a chance to tie with 2.4 seconds left, but out defense stepped up and they didn’t get a shot off,” Watkins said. “The seniors played a major role in this win.”

Trey Burks led Jonesboro-Hodge with 25 points and David Ellington had 21 points.

Bunkie 49, Vidalia 48

BUNKIE, La. — Just when it appeared that Vidalia had taken the momentum away from Bunkie, the Vikings’ offense hit a brick wall in the third quarter as they lost by one point to the Panthers Friday night in District 3-3A action.

Vidalia (18-6, 5-1) outscored Bunkie 16-12 in the fourth quarter, but its late rally fell a basket short. What hurt the Vikings was the third quarter. After outscoring the Panthers 17-10 in the second quarter to take a 25-19 lead, the Vikings managed to score just seven points in the third and fell behind by five points.

Quartrell Thomas led Vidalia with 20 points, but no other Vikings players scored in double figures. Romaniski Williams led Bunkie with a game-high 23 points.

Cathedral 53, Sacred Heart 20

HATTIESBURG — With leading scorer Juan Gray out with the flu, Cathedral got key contributions from several players as they cruised to a 33-point win over the Crusaders Friday night in Region 8-1A action.

Skylar Bacon led Cathedral (19-5, 7-2) with 10 points and Andy Lucas scored eight points. The Green Wave also got seven points each from Geoffrey Martin and Charles Lee.

The Green Wave jumped out to a 16- 2 lead after one quarter of play and never looked back from there as they continued to increase their lead throughout the game. Jake Fitzpatrick and Lex Agnew led Sacred Heart (0-10 in Region 8-1A) with eight points each.

Jefferson County 78, North Pike 56

SUMMIT — Kadon Day led four Jefferson County players in double figures with 35 points as the Tigers dominated the first half en route to a 22-point win over the Jaguars in a Region 7-3A game Friday night.

Terry Tenner finished with 13 points while Percy Turner and Trellvillion Gaines scored 12 points each for the Tigers, who improved to 18-10 overall and 9-1 in Region 7-3A.

Jefferson County took a 25-15 lead at the end of the first quarter and then put the game out of reach with a 24-9 advantage in the second quarter for a commanding 49-24 halftime lead.

Phillip McClay led North Pike with 28 points and Albert Matthews added 13 points.

Monterey 66, Forest 46

MONTEREY, La. — Beau Shivley led a balanced scoring attack for Monterey with 14 points as the Wolves outscored the Bulldogs 40-18 in the second half to take a 20-point win in District 3-B action Friday night.

Monterey (6-22, 2-4) trailed Forest 28-26 at halftime, but the Wolves controlled the action on both ends of the court in the second half. Monterey took control of the game with a 20-5 edge in the third quarter to turn that two-point deficit into a 13-point lead.

Billy Metcalf and Jared Ensminger scored 11 points each and Austin Lipsey added 10 points for Monterey. Forest (0-4 in District 3-B) was led by L. Pippen with 17 points and B. Tubbs with 11 points.

Wilkinson County 74, Tylertown 59

TYLERTOWN — Devin Fosselman led all scorers with 23 points and Darrius Knox had 18 points as the Wildcats defeated the Chiefs Friday night in Region 7-3A action.

Corey Anthony finished with 17 points and John Moore chipped in with 11 points for Wilkinson County, which jumped out to a 20-9 lead and rolled from there.

D. Stewart led Tylertown with 13 points and D. McGee scored 11 points.