SICILY ISLAND, La. — In the first three meetings between Ferriday and Franklin Parish this season, the Lady Patriots’ Latonya Whitley averaged nearly 35 points a game against the Lady Trojans.

So in the two teams’ fourth meeting, Tuesday afternoon at the Sicily Island Tournament, Ferriday decided to use a different kind of defense to try to keep Whitley from lighting up the Lady Trojans again.

The game plan head coach Lisa Abron implemented worked as well as it possible could as Whitley was held to 19 points and the Lady Trojans held on for a 52-50 win over the Lady Patriots in the second round.

“Our plan was to apply pressure and keep it up the entire game and not let the big girl get too many touches. She’s 6-2, 6-3. We managed to hold her to 19,” Abron said. “Our pressure up front annoyed their guards.”

While Franklin Parish couldn’t get into much of a rhythm on offense, Ferriday turned turnovers into transition baskets. At the end of the first quarter, the Lady Trojans had a 19-8 lead. The Lady Patriots cut into their lead in the second quarter, but still trailed 29-22 at halftime. Abron said because her players were getting a little winded at the end of the first half, the team had to switch its defense to a 1-3-1.

Franklin Parish continued to chip away at Ferriday’s lead during the second half only to come up two points shy of forcing overtime. Nikki Harris had 18 points and Brendolyn Johnson scored 10 points for the Lady Patriots.

“It worked for us. We managed to pull out a good win against a good team,” Abron said.

T’Keyah Fletcher led Ferriday (10-6) with 17 points while Chante Poole had 15 points and Jasmine Butler added 12 points. The Lady Trojans will take on Tensas Parish today at 3:50 p.m.

Natchez High boys 72, St. Paul’s 43

LAFAYETTE, La. — The Natchez High Bulldogs jumped out to a big lead and never looked back as they rolled to a 29-point win over the St. Paul’s Wolves Tuesday afternoon to win the consolation finals at the 2009 Sunkist Shootout.

Natchez High went 3-1 in the tournament, its best showing in years, and improved to 9-8 overall. The Bulldogs were led by Brandon Holden with a game-high 24 points and Jermey McMorris with 16 points.

“We just had to pick up on defense. (We) started off hard in the first quarter, kept pushing through and made it a successful game,” Holden said. “I was feeling a little down, my team just picked me up, told me nobody could hold me.”

And in this game, nobody for St. Paul’s could stop the Bulldogs at all. Natchez High got off to the start it needed to to put the pressure on the Wolves and led 21-10 at the end of the first quarter. Both teams struggled in the second quarter as the Bulldogs scored nine points, but their defense limited the Wolves to a mere four points for a 30-14 halftime lead.

Natchez High maintained its 16-point lead at the end of the third quarter with a 46-30 lead. The Bulldogs put up 26 points in the fourth quarter to complete the blowout win.

“We had good offense and picked it up on defense. It means a lot to us,” Holden said. “In our first game Saturday, came down here, lost, feeling bad. Coach said got to keep going guys. Picked it up. Believe that’s all it was. Yes, it will help us a lot.”

Marc Robertson was the only player for St. Paul’s to score in double figures as he finished with 14 points.

Vidalia boys 69, St. Thomas Aquinas 63

LAFAYETTE, La. — Even though St. Thomas Aquinas got a game-high 28 points from Zay Jackson, the Vidalia Vikings had more balanced scoring as they defeated the Falcons Tuesday night to take home third place in the 2009 Sunkist Shootout.

Vidalia (13-4) got off to a good start thanks to its defense as the Vikings led 14-9 after one quarter of play. St. Thomas Aquinas stayed in the game by holding Vidalia’s high-powered offense to 12 points in the second quarter and trailed by just three points, 26-23, at halftime.

But the Vikings got back on track in the third quarter as they outscored the Falcons 18-12 to take a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter. The final eight minutes turned into an offensive shootout. Even though the Falcons put up 28 points, they could not make enough stops on defense as the Vikings scored 25 points and held on for the win.

Torrey Dixon led Vidalia with 19 points while Quartrell Thomas and Gary Stewart each scored 13 points and D.J. Polk finished with nine points.

Trinity Episcopal girls 39, Oak Forest 33

BROOKHAVEN — After a sluggish first half, Trinity Episcopal’s offense found its groove in the third quarter as the Lady Saints rallied to defeat the Oak Forest Academy Lady Yellow Jackets Tuesday afternoon at the Brookhaven Academy Holiday Classic.

Trinity Episcopal (11-4) struggled to get shots to fall throughout the first half. The Lady Saints’ defense was dominant in the first quarter, however, which ended with them leading 6-2. The second quarter, however, saw Oak Forest outscore Trinity 12-6 as the Lady Yellow Jackets took a 14-12 lead into halftime.

Led by Brandis White and Madelyn Cross, the Lady Saints put up 16 points in the third quarter for a 28-22 leading heading into the fourth quarter. Oak Forest was unable to get a rally going in the final eight minutes and Trinity held on for the win. White led all scorers with 15 points and Cross finished with nine points. Kallie Populis led Oak Forest with 11 points and Ashley Neal had nine points.

Trinity Episcopal (11-4) will take on Copiah Academy in a consolation game today at 1 p.m.

Columbus girls 43, Natchez High 42

HATTIESBURG — The Natchez High Lady Bulldogs played a good first half against the Columbus Lady Falcons Tuesday morning at the Hattiesburg Holiday Classic. But the second half was just the opposite as Columbus rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to squeak out a one-point win.

Natchez High’s defense was outstanding in the first half, giving Columbus all kinds of problems. If the offense played better, the Lady Bulldogs would have had a bigger halftime lead than 22-16. But in the third quarter, their offense had a lull and the Lady Falcons got back in the game because of it.

Columbus outscored Natchez High 11-6 in that quarter to trail by just one point, 28-27. The fourth quarter saw both teams exchanging baskets, but in the end, the Lady Bulldogs could not hold on to the lead as they were outscored 16-14.

Anastasia Hutchins led the Lady Bulldogs (7-7) with 11 points while Ashley Minor and Kierra Miller each had eight points. They will take on Starkville today at 11 a.m.