Vidalia hoops teams split with Madison Parish in ‘non-district’ action.

Published 1:44 pm Monday, January 22, 2024

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VIDALIA — Vidalia High School’s varsity basketball teams were originally scheduled to travel to Tallulah, La. last Friday night to take on Madison Parish High School in what was supposed to have been the LHSAA District 2-2A opener for both teams.

But because of last week’s winter storm and bitterly cold weather, Vidalia Vikings head coach Damus Smith said the schedule was flip-flopped, the games were moved to the Vidalia High School gym and they ended up being non-district games.

And it ended up being a varsity doubleheader split as the Vidalia Lady Vikings took care of the Madison Parish Lady Jaguars 50-13 while the Jaguars upended the short-handed Vikings 62-43.

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In the varsity girls’ game, Vidalia came out on fire on both ends of the court and really did not let up until the fourth quarter arrived. Led by Chesney Williams and Makenzie Watson, the Lady Vikings shut out the Lady Jaguars in the first quarter for a 13-0 lead.

“They went out and took care of business early. They made their statement early,” Lady Vikings head coach Flora McKnight said. “Came out with a lot of energy. They played great defense.”

Vidalia then kept its pedal to the medal as it outscored Madison Parish 16-4 in the second quarter for a 29-4 halftime lead. Williams led all scorers with 19 points and Watson chipped in with 10 points. Lyric Warner and Kiara Washington contributed with nine and eight points, respectively.

It was more of the same in the third quarter as the Lady Vikings put up 15 points while holding the Lady Jaguars to just five points for a 44-9 lead.

“They played well. They played together. They played team ball,” McKnight said.

With the win, the Lady Vikings improved to 12-6 overall. They next played host to General Trass High School in their District 2-2A opener at 6 p.m. Tuesday before playing at district and Concordia Parish rival Ferriday High School at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Vidalia High’s home games against Delta Charter School that were originally postponed from Wednesday, Jan. 3 to Thursday, Jan. 25 have now been cancelled, Smith said, and will not be made up.

In the varsity boys’ game, the Madison Parish Jaguars took it to Vidalia in a 62-43 win over the Vikings. No other information on that game was available.

“We didn’t play well at all. We had some injured guys. We didn’t have a good performance,” Smith said. “Trying to play around injuries. I don’t have much depth in the first place.”

The Vikings fell to 11-12 overall. They played host to General Trass High School in their district opener at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday before playing at district and Concordia Parish rival Ferriday High School at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Because of so much rescheduling, Vidalia’s varsity teams will play at Madison Parish on Friday, Feb. 9 in district play.