FERRIDAY, La. &045; By now facing a box-and-one defense may just get a ho-hum response out of Ferriday’s Lady Trojans.

The response?

There’s more to the team than Monique Jones.

The Lady Trojans got three players in double-figures as they put away Jefferson County, 78-58, in what was tabbed as a shootout of two of the top three girls’ teams in the Miss-Lou.

Instead, Ferriday pulled away in the second quarter thanks to contributions from players not named Monique Jones.

&uot;That helped out a lot,&uot; said Ferriday post Latasha Cain, who had 15 points. &uot;Everybody stepped up. We showed everybody that it’s not just one person that can score. The whole team can score. Everybody is trying to stop what Monique does, and it opens everybody up for scoring.&uot;

Cain and RaShonda Leonard hit double figures in scoring behind Jones’ 29, but the standout guard likely cracked the double-figure mark in assists.

Jones served up the ordinary chest passes, behind-the-back passes and back-door passes to open teammates as the Lady Trojans muscled out to a 27-point lead at one point in the fourth quarter.

&uot;It’s stepping-up time,&uot; Jones said. &uot;I’m the captain of the team, and in order for me to be the captain I have to do captain-like things. I’m trying to do whatever I can in order to help my team out. I give it all to the coaching staff and my teammates. I give credit to the coaching staff for working us hard. That’s what’s going to help us make it to the Sweet 16 and win it &045; hard work and dedication.&uot;

The Lady Trojans did it defensively like they always do &045; some press and a bunch of 1-3-1 zone in the halfcourt &045; and gave Jefferson County fits along the perimeter. At times the Lady Tigers (18-7) moved the ball well as post Travalyn Smith tossed in 32 points.

Others times &045; Ferriday’s 19-4 run just before the half and 16-6 run to open the fourth &045; the Lady Tigers couldn’t break the pressure.

&uot;We had some turnovers, but I take my hat off to Ferriday,&uot; Jefferson County head coach Flora McKnight said. &uot;I don’t take anything away from them. They had pressure on us, and we made mistakes. Ferriday is a championship team. They could go farther than the Sweet 16. They could win it all. Ferriday is the best team I’ve played against to get the ball out and run the floor.&uot;

Jefferson County had their best moments in the first quarter and the start of the second when it took a 23-20 lead on a Smith basket at the 5:26 mark. That’s when the Lady Trojans made their first move with Leonard hitting a bucket to start a 12-0 run.

Jones hit a big 3-pointer at the 4:16 mark for a 27-23 lead and drained another at the 3:26 mark for a 32-23 lead. LaShawnda Pryor put in a bucket with four seconds left to give Ferriday a 39-27 halftime lead.

&uot;We’ve got a couple girls battling the stomach virus, and we didn’t want to play them too much,&uot; Ferriday head coach Lisa Abron said. &uot;They’re starting to get over it. The substitutes came in and did a real good job for us. When you’ve got other people scoring besides Monique, it makes it easier for everybody. That’s what we want. When we get two or three people in double figures, that’s great.&uot;

The Lady Tigers bounced back with some man-to-man but tried to run with the box-and-one on Jones. A free throw from Leonard with 4:45 left in the third put the lead at 48-31, and Jones tossed in two at the 2:50 mark that put the lead at 20, 54-34.

&uot;We were running a box-and-one, but we didn’t do a good job with that,&uot; McKnight said. &uot;But she (Jones) kept moving like a good player is supposed to do. She’s a very mature basketball player, and she has all the skills. She’s used to the box-and-one. If not, she would have just stood there.&uot;

The lead got to 24 when Jones hit two free throws early in the fourth, but the Lady Tigers got two baskets to put the lead at 66-46 at the 4:36 mark. Then Ferriday scored seven straight points, including a layup by Cain off a steal before Jones tossed in a bucket for a 73-46 lead with 2:31 left in the game.

&uot;I don’t think they had anybody to match up with her,&uot; Abron said of Jones. &uot;It wasn’t effective. They played defense kind of high. We like to do a lot of back-door cutting. We scored at least 10 or 15 points like that &045; just back-door cutting to the basket.&uot;