NATCHEZ — A furious fourth-quarter rally for Vidalia High School came up short as the Lady Vikings fell to Marksville High School 60-54 in a District 3-3A contest Friday night.

Vidalia (7-10, 1-3) entered the final period trailing by 12 points, but a flurry of baskets cut the deficit to two possessions, 46-40, in the early stages of the quarter. However, the Lady Vikings were unable to record the necessary plays down the stretch to pull off the comeback.

“This is the second game in a row that we started off flat,” Vidalia coach Christen West said. “We just had low energy. Once we picked our intensity up, it was much better. I thought we had multiple opportunities to win the game, but we didn’t capitalize on all the mistakes and all the free throw (attempts).”

Marksville’s Teeona Barkley gave Vidalia fits all game long. Utilizing her speed and quickness, the electric guard forced her way to the free-throw line, where she tallied 12 of her game-high 34 points.

“It comes down to discipline,” West said of her team’s defensive effort. “I have two players that are equally as fast. We didn’t play discipline, and we started reaching instead of moving our feet.”

Not to be outdone, Vidalia’s Bre’Honor Harris scored a team-high 18 points. Additionally, the junior forward tallied eight rebounds, five steals and blocked four shots.

“She is extremely versatile,” West said. “She is a a guard having to play the center position; we don’t have a center at all. I have to play five guards. We ask her to do a lot offensively and defensively. She is the key for us.”

Vidalia scored the first four points of the game, but Marksville answered with five quick points en route to controlling a 12-9 advantage after the first period.

The Lady Tigers (7-8, 3-1) then steadily built on their lead and headed to halftime with a 29-19 advantage.

Shae Thomas finished with 11 points, six steals and two rebounds for the Lady Vikings.

Vidalia will be back in action Tuesday when it hosts Winnfield High School.

Marksville (boys) 72, Vidalia 69

Vidalia High School managed to jump out to an 18-10 lead after one quarter but was unable to hang on as it fell to Marksville High School 71-69 in boys action Friday.

Demarco Brown led the Vikings (7-10, 1-2) with 24 points. Malik Jefferson had 14 while Julian Wilson chipped in with 13.

Marksville outscored Vidalia 27-17 in the third quarter to seize control of the game.

Additionally, Marksville had eight 3-point makes to Vidalia’s three.

“In the middle of the game, they got loose,” Vidalia coach Robert Sanders. “They knocked down several 3s, and that’s where the game was won.”