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1. Ferriday High School’s Montuizze Sandage jumps to shoot the ball Tuesday during the boys basketball game against Vidalia. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

2. Ferriday High School’s Derrick Johnson receives a pass during the game against Vidalia Tuesday in Ferriday. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

3. Ferriday High School’s Jamavius Jackson looks to pass the ball while Vidalia’s Demikal McCoy and Malaehi Matthews guard Tuesday during the boys basketball game in Ferriday. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

4. Vidalia’s Jaquan Wilson looks to shoot the ball during the boys basketball game in Ferriday. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

5. Ferriday’s Jimmie Lee guards Vidalia’s Jashun Gordon as Gordon attempts to shoot the ball Tuesday during the boys basketball game in Ferriday. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

By GREG MOORE

The Natchez Democrat

FERRIDAY — Derrick Johnson led the Ferriday High School Trojans with 18 points and Michael Tennessee scored 16 to help defeat Vidalia High School Vikings 68-64 in Tuesday night’s basketball game.

The two teams are both in the same district, LHSAA District 2- A, and are located in neighboring towns so the game is a rivalry.

Ferriday came out in the first quarter fast offensively by building a 10-point lead and ending the quarter with a score of 21-11.

Ferriday head coach K. G. Watkins agreed that getting a lead early helped his team.

“That’s always big, any time that you can jump out early,” Watkins said. “It changes the philosophy and the psyche of the other team because now all of a sudden they’re behind and they have to catch up but all we have to do is maintain.”

After a timeout in the first quarter Vidalia players started to get their bearings and performed better in the second quarter by scoring 17 points.

Vidalia’s performance cut Ferriday’s lead to 2 points about half way through the second quarter and going into halftime with a score of 33-28.

The Vikings would drive to the basket consistently but had trouble finishing at the rim throughout the first half and rest of the game.

“The biggest problem was missed free throws,” said Robert Sanders, Vidalia head coach, “and we had a lot of point blank layups we were missing.”

The third quarter was slow offensively both Ferriday and Vidalia scored under 10 points but that can be attributed to pressing and players stepping up on defense.

The Trojans still managed to extend the lead to 8 points finishing the quarter with a score of 42- 34.

The fourth quarter was the highest scoring quarter. Vidalia scored 30 points and Ferriday scored 26 points.

The Vikings brought the lead down to 4 points toward the end of the quarter but the deficit proved too much to overcome.

“We were down double digits a couple of times but they fought to the end,” Sanders said.

For Ferriday, Watkins said he would rate the performance a seven out of 10.

“Nothings every perfect,” Watkins said. “There is a lot to work on but there is also some improvements. You would rather concentrate on the positives and correct the negatives.”

Jaquan Wilson led the Vikings with 23 points and Ray J. Ransom contributed 18 points.

Ferriday travels to Rayville on Jan.10 and Vidalia travels to play Mangham on Jan. 11.

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