VIDALIA — The Vidalia High School Vikings went into Friday night’s LHSAA District 3-3A game against Buckeye High School without their floor general, starting point guard Malik Jefferson.

Which meant that those players not known for their scoring would have to pick it up a few notches if the Vikings were to be victorious and keep their playoff hopes alive. Mission accomplished.

Julius Wilson led Vidalia with a game-high 20 points, Overton Lewis added 16 points, and Johnny Andreson and Desmond Bindon had eight points each as the Vikings defeated the Panthers 60-49.

“It was a big win, obviously,” Vikings head coach Robert Sanders said. “We played decent defense. We got key some rebounds. Malik was out tonight with the flu. Other players had to step up.”

Both teams got off to a slow start and the Vikings had a 12-8 lead after one quarter of play. The second quarter saw both teams putting up more points, but Vidalia still kept Buckeye at arms’ length and went into halftime with a 30-22 advantage.

Vidalia held Buckeye to just eight points in the third quarter and took a 44-30 lead into the fourth quarter. Even though the Panthers put up 19 points in the game’s final eight minutes, it still wasn’t enough as the Vikings scored 16 points.

Sanders said he was pleasantly surprised at the performance Anderson had, not just scoring but also with some big rebounds. He also said that the bench players had a big role in the game.

“Julius had to play the whole game in Malik’s absence,” Sanders said. “We got some key minutes off the bench. We played all 10 players.”

Vidalia (14-10, 5-4) next plays at Avoyelles at 6 p.m. Monday in the final district game of the season.ACCS 54, Simpson Academy 54

BROOKHAVEN — Lester Wells led Adams County Christian School with 17 points and Brandon Brooks had 12 points as the District 5-AA champion Rebels defeated the District 4-AA champion Simpson Academy Cougars 54-45 Friday night in the boys’ semifinals of the MAIS Class AA South State Tournament at Brookhaven Academy.

ACCS jumped out to a 25-11 lead over Simpson Academy at the end of the first quarter. But the Cougars made sure that the Rebels would not run away with an easy win in game between top five teams in the latest Clarion-Ledger Class AA poll — ACCS at No. 2, Simpson Academy at No. 3.

“We were able to run the floor and quicken the pace a little bit in the first quarter,” Rebels head coach Richy Spears said. “The second and third quarters, they slowed it down and played a zone trap”

The Cougars outscored the Rebels 11-5 in the second quarter and 12-8 in the third quarter, but the Rebels still had the lead at 38-34 at the end of the third quarter.

“Brandon had a big first quarter. They wouldn’t let us shoot the 3s like we normally do,” Spears said. “We got it to Lester, and he was able to knock the shots down.”

ACCS saw its lead disappear in the fourth quarter, but the Rebels rallied with strong defense and clutch free throws.

“The fourth quarter, they were up one and we got back on top of them by three. We made them pick up the pace a bit,” Spears said. “The big thing was we made our free throws down the stretch.”

Despite the lack of scoring in the second and third quarters, Spears said the Rebels’ defense was vital in making sure that Simpson Academy would not go on a big run.

The one player that ACCS had a hard time defending was Jacob Berry, who led all scorers with 23 points.

“They went off a bunch of screens and double screens and triple screens,” Spears said. “He hit some shots with hands in his face.”

Next up for ACCS (25-3) is the boys’ championship game today at 6:15 p.m. against a very familiar opponent in Central Hinds Academy, the No. 2 seed out of District 5-AA. Central Hinds upset District 6-AA champion Bowling Green School 52-48 Friday night.