Ferriday High School basketball coach K.G. Watkins has a special ritual before every game.

About 10 to 15 minutes before tipoff, Watkins exits the locker room and lets his team get hyped before coming out to face its opponent.

“These kids liked to get turned up,” he said.

Tonight won’t be any different as the third-ranked Trojans face No. 14 Red River at home in the second round of LHSAA Class 2A playoffs.

“We just wait until it’s time to start and get our mind right,” FHS junior Dantrieze Scott said. “The whole team does it. There really isn’t a certain person who starts it.”

Ferriday (21-6) took down No. 30 Capitol in the opening round last Friday, 79-65.

To keep the momentum going, Watkins said his team needs to stay true to who they are without pulling any tricks.

“Right now we just have to play one game at a time,” he said. “The first thing we have to do is get past Red River. They are a good team. We just have to play our game, and we can take them.”

The Trojans will have help from Jer’Lyric Brooks, who sank six 3-pointers in last week’s win, including four in the second quarter.

Brooks is just a sophomore, but said he practices his 3-point form at least 60 times during a practice.

“Someone has to step up,” he said.

“He made some big shots,” Watkins said about his shooter. “That was big for us. It gave us some breathing room. I also know if you live by the 3, you die by the 3.”

Scott will also come in handy for Ferriday as he posted 15 points in the first round victory.

The only downfall was Scott found himself in foul trouble, missing most of his playing time between the third and fourth quarter.

“They were really double teaming me,” he said. “(My team) started dishing them to me, too, and I got a couple post moves.”

While Watkins said he won’t know exactly how his team will play until it’s game time, he expects them to stay focused for 32 minutes.

“I’d like us to have a certain amount of intensity and play hard,” he said. “We have to play an all-around game. We just need to play straight-forward basketball.”

Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at the Ferriday Junior High gym.