Lady Vikings winless streak continues after facing Jena, Tioga

Published 3:20 pm Monday, December 20, 2021

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JENA, La. — The Vidalia High School Lady Vikings ran into two really good opponents late last week at the Jena Tournament in host Jena High School last Friday night and Tioga High School last Thursday night.

And the results weren’t that pretty as the Lady Vikings lost to the LHSAA Class 3A Lady Giants 54-6 last Friday night and before that fell to the Class 4A Lady Indians 55-14 to remain winless on the season.

Jena 54, Vidalia 6 (Fri. night)

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Avery Finley led Jena with a game-high 11 points and Kennedy Norris added eight points as the Jena Lady Giants cruised to a 54-6 win over a depleted Vidalia Lady Vikings squad.

Jena played all 17 of its players in the game and had its way with Vidalia. The Lady Giants led the Lady Vikings 18-0 after one quarter of play and used a 13-0 advantage in the third quarter to take a 48-5 lead.

“Decisions had to be made with the team. We didn’t have all of our team. We’re pretty much a starter team,” Lady Vikings head coach Tema Larry said. “We showed some frustration. Jena was good. They were a solid team with the basics. They were fundamentally sound. That makes a huge difference.”

Even though Vidalia scored just five points in the second quarter and only one point in the fourth quarter, Larry said she is not frustrated or even angry with her players. She then added that she can be patient with them.

“We couldn’t start practice until after football because we have some cheerleaders. We have to communicate more. We have to listen to each other,” Larry said. “I never played basketball. I never coached until I got here. But they’re coming together as a team. When they get it, they’re going to get it. We’ve got to stay positive.”

Jakayla Green led Vidalia with five points and Hillary Ramos scored one point.

The Lady Vikings (0-7) played host to Tensas High School Tuesday night.

Vidalia’s varsity boys’ basketball team played its only game at the Jena Tournament last Friday night and lost a heartbreaker to the host Jena High School Giants 54-53 to drop to 3-3 overall. No other information on that game was available. The Vikings hosted Tensas High School Tuesday night.

Tioga 55, Vidalia 14 (Thurs. night)

JENA, La. — Abby Troquille led Class 4A Tioga High School with a game-high 21 points as the Lady Indians defeated the Vidalia High School Lady Vikings 55-14 last Thursday night at the Jena Tournament.

Vidalia was originally scheduled to play Winnfield High School and was supposed to have been the visiting team. Even coach Larry could not figure out why the change was made when they arrived at the Jena High School gym.

“When we got there, they made Vidalia the home team and Tioga the road team. I didn’t understand that because we had our road jerseys,” Larry said.

Regardless, Vidalia faced off with what Larry said was “a very experienced team” in Tioga, and that showed in the first half. The Lady Indians jumped out to a 15-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and then took a 35-3 lead into halftime.

“Our girls, the first half, they seemed kind of defeated,” Larry said. “After halftime, they came back with some fight in them. That had me really excited. They turned it around. Even though we didn’t win, the crowd was excited that we had some fight. I believe in them. I still believe in them.”

Tioga still managed to outscore Vidalia 10-4 in the third quarter and 10-7 in the fourth quarter. The Lady Vikings were led by Jakayla Green with five points and Kay-Lee Ashley with four points.