Ferriday High lack of experience not enough to defeat Lakeview

Published 6:25 pm Wednesday, March 4, 2020

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FERRIDAY — Ferriday High Trojans lost 49-37 to Lakeview High School Gators in the Class 2A Regional round on Tuesday night.

The No. 20 Trojans (12-12) lack of experience showed in the game by only one player scoring in double digits. Jamarrius Johnson led the Trojans with 10 points in the game.

“I really think the key to the game was that we were tight,” said George Barnes, Ferriday High head coach. “We haven’t been in this spot before with no seniors. Then, when we realized we could play with them, it was a little bit too late. A massive effort by the players and I’m proud of them.”

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The No. 4 Gators (23-9) defense held the Trojans to 21 points in the first half. Meanwhile, Lakeview scored 26 points in the first half.

The Trojans zone caused a lot of problems for the Gators. During the game, the Gators lost turnovers and threw the ball away, due to Ferriday’s zone.

“The zone gave us a lot of problems but up north we’re used to playing man-to-man and getting up and down the court quickly,” Brian Williams, Lakeview High head coach, said. “By them slowing us down with their zone, it threw us in a funk for a little while.”

The foul trouble of Johnson and Derrick Johnson did not help the Trojans in the game. Both players had two personal fouls in the first half.

“That’s two-thirds of our scoring and when we have to take them out of the game, we just have one scorer on the floor,” Barnes said. “Lakeview was able to double-team us a lot because we didn’t have that extra scorer on the floor.”

Timothy Washington led the Gators with 15 points and Nate Braden finished with 13 points in the game.

Lakeview with play in the LHSAA Class 2A Quarterfinal round for the third straight year. Last year, the Lakeview lost 85-79 in overtime to Ville Platte High School.

“We were a little bit more seasoned in the game against Ferriday High,” Williams said. “Every time we advance to the Quarterfinal round, we come up short. Hopefully, we can make it to the top this year.”

The Gators will host the No. 5 Franklin High School Hornets (25-8) on Friday.