VIDALIA — It’s nice when you can play your worst game of the season and still win by 17 points, but that’s exactly what Vidalia coach Robert Sanders said happened Friday night in the first round of the LHSAA Class 3A playoffs.

The Vikings built a huge first-quarter lead but sputtered in the final three quarters before pulling away late for a 67-50 victory over Jena.

“We were very sloppy and took ill-advised shots,” Sanders said. “This is probably the worst game we’ve played all season, at least in the last three quarters.”

It looked like Vidalia was going to blow Jena completely out of the packed gym in the first quarter, as the Vikings jumped out to a 20-2 lead.

Vidalia built its lead as big as 30-8 midway through the second quarter before Jena began its comeback.

The Giants outscored Vidalia 18-3 over the final four minutes of the second quarter and first three minutes of the third quarter, cutting the Viking lead to 33-26.

However, following a Vidalia timeout, the Vikings answered that run with an 11-0 spurt of their own to up the lead back up to 18 points.

Jena never threatened again, and the Vikings (29-1) were able to cruise to the victory in the fourth quarter.

Torrey Dixon led Vidalia with 15 points while Gary Stewart scored 13 and Rolandin Webster tallied 10.

Jena was led by Devante Wallace with 14 points and Darren Brown with 10.

Vidalia, the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, will host No. 15 seed Crowley in the second round on Tuesday night.

Crowley defeated No. 18 seed E.D. White in the first round.

Sanders said he hopes his players can learn from their mistakes in their first round game and apply it to their next contest.

“I know that we as coaches will learn from this,” Sanders said. “It’s just transferring it to the players.”