FERRIDAY &045; It shouldn’t have been this close.

Ferriday has already beaten Sicily Island twice this season, both times in convincing fashion.

But with 7.8 seconds remaining, the Tigers had two chances to send the game to overtime, an off-balance jumper by Nick Drumgoole that bounced out and a putback attempt by Ceddrick Finister that rolled off the rim. Either shot would have tied the game at 57. Instead, Ferriday escaped with a 57-55 win Thursday night at the Ferriday tournament.

&uot;I thought they were going to fall,&uot; Sicily Island head coach Curtis Shavers said. &uot;That off-balance shot I was worried about, but the tip-in I thought would go in.&uot;

The Trojans didn’t take the lead for good until late in the fourth quarter when they went ahead 54-52 with just more than a minute to play.

&uot;We got down early, but the guys came back. They kept working and we got it at the end,&uot; Ferriday head coach James Davis said.

Dominique Myles put back a missed lay-up to give the Trojans a four-point lead, but Drumgoole again closed the gap with a jumper with 23.5 seconds to go in the game. Ferriday’s Antonio Burns lost control of the ball and threw it out of bounds, giving the Tigers the ball with 9.8 seconds left, still trailing by two.

Drumgoole was fouled before the Tigers could inbound the ball and made the first half of a one-and-one. He missed the second, leaving the score at 56-55 Ferriday. Ferriday’s LaDerek Metcalfe was fouled trying to get the rebound and made one of his two free-throw attempts, making the score 57-55.

Sicily Island had the ball with 7.8 seconds left, giving Drumgoole one more chance. He drove the length of the floor but missed, and Finister missed a tip-in chance. Finister got the ball again, but was ruled to be out of bounds, giving the ball to Ferriday with .7 sec left.

&uot;I thought that out-of-bounds call was questionable, but that’s a part of the game,&uot; Shavers said. &uot;As a team, this was the best game they’ve played all year, including some wins.&uot;

Ferriday climbed back in the game after a slow start, playing tough defense and getting five three-pointers from Dominique Myles, including three in the third quarter that kept the Trojans in the game.

The game was tied at 29 at halftime, one of seven ties.

Drumgoole augmented his usual high-scoring performances by setting up his teammates early on. Drumgoole had three assists in the opening minutes as Sicily Island opened up a 10-2 lead. It would be the largest lead either team had in the game.

&uot;We played poor defense early and didn’t communicate,&uot; Ferriday’s Myles said. &uot;But I knew we were going to win this one the whole time.

The game was a contrast in styles. Sicily Island got out on the fast break and hit the boards hard, grabbing numerous offensive rebounds and getting easy second looks.

Ferriday, which typically likes to run, didn’t get its usual amount of fast break opportunities. Instead, the Trojans relied on the three-point shot and some suffocating defense to get back in the game and eventually take the win.

&uot;We’ve been hitting some big threes the last few games,&uot; Davis said. &uot;We hit the one we needed to tonight. Dominique did that for us.&uot;

Myles had 23 in the game, tying Sicily Island’s Drumgoole for the game high.