COLUMBIA, La. — For the first time in over two weeks, No. 2 Vidalia stepped out of District 3-3A and hit the road to take No. 4 Caldwell Parish Friday night in a battle of two of the best teams in Class 3A.

However, what was expected to be a close game between top five teams quickly turned out to be just the opposite thanks to the play of Torrey Dixon and Gary Stewart as the Vikings stunned the Spartans 70-50.

Even though Vidalia head coach Robert Sanders was not surprised that his team won, he was more than surprised at the margin of victory.

“I was surprised (at the 20-point win) because they added a couple of players. So, yeah, I was surprised we beat them so handily,” Sanders said. “It was a big win. They were tied for first by the sports writers (Louisiana Sports Writers Association) at the beginning of the season and now they’re fourth. We needed that win to boost our confidence.”

The Vikings did not let the home-court advantage Caldwell Parish had bother them at all. They jumped out to a 21-13 lead over the Spartans at the end of the first quarter and never allowed the Spartans to stage a big rally to get back in the game.

Vidalia (19-4) led Caldwell Parish by 11 points at both halftime and the end of the third quarter. The Vikings put the Spartans away with a 24-15 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Sanders said defense and inside play were the keys to Vidalia’s win.

“Torrey had a few outside shots that opened up the inside. He and Gary helped on the inside. We went to a full-court press. We didn’t allow them to do what they wanted to do.”

Dixon led all scorers with 30 points while Stewart had 16 points and Quartrell Thomas added 10 points. Caldwell Parish (27-3) was led by C. Donald and D. Green with 10 points apiece.

Trinity Episcopal 74,

Chamberlain-Hunt 50

PORT GIBSON — Trinity Episcopal was supposed to host Chamberlain-Hunt Friday night in an MAIS District 6-A game. That was until a shattered backboard during practice Thursday afternoon forced the game to be played at Chamberlain-Hunt.

It didn’t do the Wildcats any good as the Saints jumped out to a big lead and cruised to a 24-point win. And they did so without senior R.J. Fleming, who is on a recruiting trip.

Trinity Episcopal (14-6, 8-0), ranked No. 2 in Class A, had four players score in double figures. Givonni Dent led the Saints with 26 points while Kent King had 13 points, L.J. Trimble scored 11 points and Jordan Dossett added 10 points.

The Saints led the Wildcats 20-12 at the end of the first quarter and used a 22-point second quarter to take a 42-23 halftime lead. The Wildcats’ offensive productivity got even worse in the third quarter as they were held to nine points and down by 26 points heading into the fourth quarter.

Chamberlain-Hunt was led by Luke Murphy with 15 points and Brannon Brooke with 14 points.

Ferriday 55, Farmerville 53

FERRIDAY — Markell Bell scored 11 points and hit the game-winning shot with just five seconds left to give the Ferriday Trojans a two-point win over the Farmerville Farmers Friday night.

The stunning win by Ferriday was just the second for the Trojans all season and their first in District 2-2A. And they had to overcome an early six-point deficit in the process.

The Trojans got off to a slow start and trailed the Farmers 12-6 after one quarter of play. They cut the lead to four points at halftime, but Farmerville outscored Ferriday 21-20 in the third quarter. But in the fourth quarter, the Farmers were held to just seven points while the Trojans scored 14 points to pull off the victory.

Richard Jefferson led Ferriday (2-18, 1-3) with a game-high 17 points and Ted’Rai Gullage had 14 points. Depaul Elliott led Farmerville with 12 points while Kenneth Andrews and Derrick Lawrence each had 10 points.

Natchez High 69, Jim Hill 55

JACKSON — Jeremy McMorris scored 22 points and Joel Davis added 14 points to lead Natchez High’s balanced scoring attack as the Bulldogs defeated the Jim Hill Tigers Friday night in a key Division 6-6A game.

Defense was once again the difference for Natchez High (14-8, 2-3). The Bulldogs were aggressive for much of the first three quarters. Jim Hill scored just seven points in the first quarter while Natchez High scored 17 points. The second and third quarters were close to even, but the Bulldogs continued to slowly add to their lead.

The Tigers scored 22 points in the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs also scored 22 points.

Reshad Bickham led Jim Hill with 12 points and Marquis Bailey had nine points.

Jefferson County 45, Amite County 40

FAYETTE — Jefferson County did not play like a team that is undefeated in Region 7-3A in the first quarter of the Tigers’ game Friday night against the Amite County Trojans.

The Tigers scored two points in the game’s first eight minutes and looked like they were well on their way to suffering their first loss in region play this season. That was until they rallied from a 10-point deficit after three quarters of play to defeat the Trojans by five points.

Jefferson County (10-10, 6-0) had about as bad of a first quarter as possible and Amite County was more than opportunistic. The Trojans jumped out to a 15-2 lead and it looked like the rout was on. But the Tigers had other ideas as they outscored the Trojans 13-10 in the second quarter to trail 25-15 at halftime.

But it was the fourth quarter that proved to be the difference as the Tigers put up 19 points while holding the Trojans to a mere four points. Davion Noble was a big part of this amazing win as he poured in a game-high 23 points while Terry Tenner scored eight points.

West Lincoln 63, Cathedral 38

BROOKHAVEN — Brandon Robinson led West Lincoln with 15 points and Jay Case had 14 points as the Bears dominated Cathedral in the first half en route to a 25-point win over the Green Wave in Region 7-1A action Friday night.

West Lincoln (14-7, 4-2) scored 18 points in each of the first two quarters on its way to a 36-13 lead at halftime. Only one player for Cathedral (7-9, 2-4) scored in double figures. Carl Hammitte led the Green Wave with a game-high 19 points.

Tensas Academy 62, Briarfield 59

ST. JOSEPH, La. — Thanks to a 23-point outburst in the third quarter, the Tensas Academy Chiefs overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat the Briarfield Academy Rebels in MAIS District 6-A action Friday night.

Briarfield led Tensas Academy 17-13 at the end of the first quarter and 17-10 in the second quarter for a 34-23 halftime lead. But the Chiefs grabbed the momentum away from the Rebels in a big way in the third quarter.

With Austin Emfinger and Jon Truman James leading the charge, Tensas Academy outscored Briarfield 23-10 to take a 46-44 lead. The Chiefs held on by outscoring the Rebels 16-15 in the fourth quarter. Emfinger finished with 29 points and James had 17 points.

Jacob Hopkins led Briarfield with a game-high 30 points, but only two of his teammates got into the scoring column. Ridge Creech had 18 points and Zac Morant had 11 points.

WCCA 58, Central Private 41

BAKER, La. — Tip McKenzie scored a game-high 22 points and Darius Hunter added 15 points to lead the Wilkinson County Christian Academy Rams to a 17-point win over the Central Private School Rebels in an MAIS District 5-AA game Friday night.

WCCA (11-8, 4-3) opened up a close game by outscoring Central Private 18-11 in the second quarter and 13-8 in the third quarter for a 42-27 lead. The Rebels were led by Jason Young with 15 points and Matt Wallace with 10 points.