VIDALIA, LA. &045; The running and gunning style of the Vikings generated plenty of excitement, plenty of mistakes and one win, a 44-39 victory over Sicily Island Tuesday night.

&uot;It was ugly, but we’ll take it,&uot; Vidalia head coach Sherman Sanders said. &uot;I think we’ve taken a step back from last night. We’re just trying to find some team chemistry. Most of these guys haven’t played with each other before.&uot;

The Vikings led almost the entire way and used a steady rotation of players in and out to wear down the undermanned Tigers. With only five players back from last year’s team and one of them out with injury, Vidalia often struggled to execute as players are still learning to work with each other.

&uot;We need to work on executing layups, playing better defense, blocking out,&uot; Vidalia’s Jarvis Whitley said.

Vidalia took a 14-7 lead midway through the first quarter but struggled to maintain or enlarge that advantage. Each time the Vikings went out to a big lead, the Tigers roared right back, making it a 14-12 Vidalia lead at the end of the first and a 22-20 lead at halftime, as the Tigers’ Nick Drumgoole scored four consecutive points to end the first half.

Drumgoole had a stellar game, scoring 20 points despite missing several layups. He received constant defensive attention throughout the game from the Vikings.

&uot;We have to get it to No. 4 (Drumgoole),&uot; Sicily Island head coach Curtis Shavers said. &uot;

He makes everything happen for us. In a few weeks, we’ll have something.&uot;

In the second half, it was more of the same. Despite outplaying the Tigers, the Vikings missed too many layups and gave up too many turnovers to pull away.

Early in the fourth quarter, Sicily Island’ s Dwan Brunson hit a three-pointer, tying the game at 30.

Vidalia’s defensive pressure and running style finally allowed the Vikings to pull away in the fourth. They started slowing things down with two minutes to go and a 42-35 lead. Brunson hit a shot with 0.6 seconds to go and was fouled. He hit the free-throw, making the final score 44-39.

The Vikings had the ultimate team game, with nine players scoring and no player scoring more than eight. Jarvis Whitley and Josh Upchurch led the Vikings with eight points each. Sicily Island’s Drumgoole led all scorers with 20 points.

Sicily Island girls 35, Vidalia 31

The Lady Vikings made a run at it in the second half, but simply didn’t have the firepower to run down the Lady Tigers, who took the win 35-31 Tuesday night.

&uot;We’re battling (a lack of) size, too much inexperience,&uot; Vidalia head coach Damus Smith said. &uot;We just don’t have the numbers, and when you don’t have great talent, that hurts.&uot;

Early on, it looked like the Vikings might be run out of the gym. Sicily Island took a 15-8 advantage into halftime, then expanded their lead out to 13 points in the third quarter.

The Vikings went on a 12-2 run, closing the gap to just three at 26-23 at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Vidalia’s lack of depth really hurt. Kimberly Yearby fouled out, depriving the Vikings of their leading scorer and a good ballhandler.

Without Yearby, Sicily Island’s defensive intensity was too much for the Vikings.

The Lady Tigers pulled scored the game’s final seven points, pulling past Vidalia for the victory.

Yearby led the Vikings with 12 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Rockel Gary scored 17 for the Lady Tigers.

Ferriday boys 68, Newellton 49

FERRIDAY &045; The Trojans won for the second consecutive night, this time knocking off Newellton 68-49 to move to 4-0.

Ferriday led 39-18 at the half, then held on to win by 19 points.

Marcus Hill led the Trojans with 17 points. Dominique Myles paced the Bears with 16 points.

Wilkinson County 61, Clinton (La.) 41

WOODVILLE &045; The Wildcats scored early and often, building up a big lead and then adding more as the game went on in a 61-41 win over Clinton (La.).

Wilkinson County led 22-17 at halftime, then turned on the gas to pull away in the second half.

Kelvin James led three Wildcats in double figures with 18 points. Larry Miller led Clinton with 10 points.

Wilkinson County girls 66, Clinton 28

WOODVILLE &045; The Wilkinson County girls also had an easy time, beating Clinton 66-28 Tuesday.

The Lady Wildcats ran out to a 34-14 advantage at halftime and never looked back.

In a bizarre occurrence, the Lady Eagles scored exactly seven points in each quarter.

Latasha Williams led the Lady Wildcats with 30 points. S. Stanford led the Lady Eagles with 10 points.