FERRIDAY — Ferriday High School future stars Dantreize Scott and Lakeshanna Harris defy the word “future.”

Their time is now.

It took Jonesboro-Hodge just five seconds after the opening tip to identify Ferriday’s greatest threat in the varsity boys’ matchup on Feb. 10. After Scott won the tip, he went underneath the goal, received the pass and went up for a successful field goal conversion.

Though he doesn’t look it, Scott is just a freshman, and that doesn’t stop him from starting in Ferriday’s talented lineup and leading the Trojans in scoring on most nights.

Against Jonesboro-Hodge, a victory that secured the district championship for the Ferriday Trojans, Scott led the team with 22 points. Scott, who Ferriday head coach K.G. Watkins inserted into the starting lineup by the fourth game of the season, said most of his development as a freshman has been mental.

“I just had to step up and start scoring,” Scott said. “Then my teammates started stepping up, and it’s like all of us are carrying each other.”

Lakeshanna Harris, the junior point guard for the Lady Trojans, had to run the team’s offense after the Trojans lost its two best players — Jada Griggs and Kesia Mason — who were arrested for disturbing the peace and cruelty toward a juvenile.

Harris started the game, but was pressing; committing turnovers and making mental mistakes that caused Ferriday head coach Lisa Abron to sit her in the first quarter. After falling behind 15-8, Abron put her starters back in, and Harris showed urgency, creating steals and baskets, leading the Lady Trojans to an 18-17 lead in the second quarter against No. 6 Jonesboro-Hodge.

“I had to step up and be a leader,” Harris said. “I had to take control.”

Like Scott would follow, Harris led her team in scoring with 20 points in the 68-44 loss.

While Harris’ emergence was forced through unfortunate circumstances, Scott’s ability to dominate on the floor was first exhibited in a summer camp at LSU, where he drew a 4-star rating.

“They showed me the stuff I needed to know, and they kept working with me,” said Scott of the camp. “The LSU coaches were giving me a heads up as to what would happen up the road.”

And while Scott has shown tremendous athletic ability — both in the way he runs the floor and through the way he skies high and slams it home — he’s also had to mature under Watkins, earning his minutes on the floor.

“The good thing is that he’s a freshman,” Watkins said. “He’s only scratched the surface. When we get a few summer camps in, you’re going to see something.”

As Scott continues to reach his peak, Ferriday Lady Trojans coach Lisa Baron believes Harris has already established her legacy as a Lady Trojan — coming up big for her team under extreme circumstances.

“She has exemplified leadership in so many ways,” Abron said. “I couldn’t ask for more.”