VIDALIA — Torrey Dixon led four Vidalia players in double figures with a game-high 26 points as the Vikings, in their season-opening game of the 2009-2010 season, had little difficulty in taking care of the Jefferson County Tigers 93-41 Tuesday night.

Vidalia didn’t get off to the slow start that it had been accustomed to in recent years right after the end of football season. Instead, the Vikings had its way with Jefferson County in the first quarter and by the end of the quarter had a 32-8 lead.

But with coach Robert Sanders taking his starters out early in the second quarter, the Tigers outscored the Vikings 14-13, but they still trailed by 23 points at halftime.

“We started out real strong. I kind of substituted real heavy in the second quarter. Then I put my starters back in for the third and fourth quarters,” Sanders said. “The rust didn’t show in our football players. I was pleased with that. But there was some rust.”

With the likes of Dixon, Gary Stewart, D.J. Polk and Quartrell Thomas back on the court for Vidalia in the second half, the Vikings scored a combined 48 points while holding the Tigers to a combined 19 points.

Stewart finished with 18 points while Polk had 16 points and Thomas added 12 points for Vidalia (1-0).

“We had some lapses where we didn’t rotate and allowed second-chance baskets. But that’s to be expected in the first game,” Sanders said.

Jefferson County (2-1) was led by Davion Noble with 10 point and Richard Miles with nine points.

Jefferson County girls 56, Vidalia 21

VIDALIA — Keiquane Smith and Taylor Mims led a balanced scoring attack for Jefferson County with 13 point apiece as the Lady Tigers rolled to a 35-point win over the Vidalia Lady Vikings Tuesday night for the first win of the season.

Jefferson County (1-1) only had a 9-4 over Vidalia at the end of the first quarter. But the Lady Tigers started to pull away in the second quarter and took an 11-point lead into halftime. Then they really put the game away by scoring an astonishing 28 points in the third quarter while the Lady Vikings had a mere two points.

Charika Carradine scored 10 points and Brandy Buck finished with seven points for Jefferson County. Vidalia was led by Gabby Wagoner, who ended up scoring a game-high 16 points but got little help from her teammates.

Natchez High boys 79, Wilkinson County 60

NATCHEZ — Brandon Holden had a breakout performance for Natchez High Tuesday night as he scored a career-high 32 points in leading the Bulldogs to a 19-point win over the Wildcats.

Natchez High (3-1) led Wilkinson County by just six points after one quarter of play, but a 27-9 advantage in the second quarter allowed the Bulldogs to take a commanding 44-20 halftime lead. The Wildcats did outscore the Bulldogs 23-18 in the fourth quarter, but it was too late.

Jeremy McMorris added 15 points and Jonathan Griffin had 12 points for the Bulldogs. Brian Montgomery finished with 15 points and Devin Fosselman had 14 points for the Wildcats.

Natchez High girls 61, Wilkinson County 47

NATCHEZ — Led by Jasmine Belton and Anastasia Hutchins, the Natchez High Lady Bulldogs overcame a sluggish first half to defeat the upset-minded Wilkinson County Lady Wildcats Tuesday night.

Natchez High’s offense could not get untracked in the first half against Wilkinson County and led just 20-19 at halftime, leading some to wonder if the Lady Bulldogs were worthy of their No. 7 preseason ranking in the Clarion-Ledger’s Super 10 poll and a No. 4 ranking in Class 6A.

But the Lady Bulldogs responded with a big turnaround in the second half as the outscored the Lady Wildcats 21-17 in the third quarter and 20-11 in the pivotal fourth quarter.

Belton led Natchez High (1-2) with 17 points and Hutchins ended up with 14 points. Tyesha Harris led Wilkinson County with a game-high 20 points and Breshianne Day had 11 points.

Franklin Parish girls 62, Ferriday 53

FERRIDAY — With a lack of a inside game, Ferriday had its hands full guarding Franklin Parish center Latonya Whitley, especially in the first half, as she finished with 36 points to lead the Lady Patriots past the Lady Trojans Tuesday night.

“I thought we did a decent effort on defense. Whitley was pretty tall. We couldn’t contain her in the first half,” Lady Trojans head coach Lisa Abron said. “Poor free-throw shooting and not able to contain their 6-2 center cost us the game.”

Even though Franklin Parish (1-0) had the size advantage over a Ferriday team that lost all of its post players to graduation last spring, the Lady Patriots only took eight free throws and made just one. However, the Lady Trojans were not able to take advantage of that situation despite taking 34 free throws. That’s because they made 15 of them for a 44 percent average.

“That’s terrible free-throw shooting,” Abron said. “Tomorrow, we will be working on free throws.”

Whitley scored most of her 36 points in the first half when Ferriday (0-1) used a 1-3-1 defense. The second half was a different story as the Lady Trojans went to a zone defense and constantly double-teamed her. Even though Ferriday was able to force turnovers and make some lay-ups, it was not enough as Franklin Parish added to its three-point halftime lead.

“The second half I thought we did a great job defensively. But we had a couple of girls get in foul trouble. In the end fatigue set in,” Abron said.

Nikki Harris was the only other player for Franklin Parish to end up in double figures as she scored 12 points. Ferriday had three players score in double figures. Chante Poole led the Lady Trojans with 14 points, followed by T’Keyah Fletcher with 12 points and Jasmine Butler with 10 points.

Monterey girls 49, LaSalle 30

MONTEREY, La. — After letting LaSalle hang around in the first half, Monterey’s Lady Wolves decided enough was enough as they used a big second half to defeat the Lady Tigers by 19 points Tuesday night.

Monterey was up by only one point after one quarter of play and just four points at halftime by the score of 20-16. But the Lady Wolves ended any thoughts of a come-from-behind win by LaSalle by outscoring the Lady Tigers 19-8 in the third quarter to go up by 15 points.

Ellen Bairnsfather scored 14 points, Brooke Baker had 12 points and Ariel Hector added 10 points to lead Monterey, which improved to 7-3 for the Lady Wolves’ best start in years. Jessica Talley led LaSalle with eight points and Hannah Ruddel chipped in with seven points.

Monterey boys 47, LaSalle 32

MONTEREY, La. — Led by Josh Chapman, Ross Lipsey and Jacob Evans, the Monterey Wolves erased an early deficit and wound up taking a 15-point win over the LaSalle Tigers Tuesday night.

Monterey (5-4) got off to a slow start and trailed LaSalle 12-8 at the end of the first quarter. But the second quarter was when the momentum shifted to the Wolves as the outscored the Tigers 11-3 to take a 19-15 halftime lead. While Monterey continued to add to its lead in the second half, LaSalle was never able to respond with a rally of its own.

Chapman led the Wolves with 12 points, followed by Lipsey with 10 points and Evans with nine points. Hill and Barmea led the Tigers with eight points each.

Riverdale boys 55, Tensas Academy 43

ST. JOSEPH, La. — Jon Truman James led Tensas Academy with a game-high 25 points, but Riverdale Academy had four players score in double figures as the Rebels pulled away for a 12-point win over the Chiefs Tuesday night.

Riverdale (2-0) had its problems with Tensas Academy throughout the first half and led by just one point at halftime. But the Rebels outscored the Chiefs 18-10 in the third quarter and 16-13 in the fourth quarter.

Matt Warren scored 16 points, Austin McCrory had 15 points, Blake Moseley finished with 12 points and Clay Trader added 10 points for Riverdale. Austin Emfinger had 12 points for Tensas Academy (0-1).

Parklane girls 53, Centreville 24

CENTREVILLE — Nearly 24 hours after getting past Huntington in the Silliman Tournament, the Centerville Lady Tigers returned to their home court, but had no chance against Class AAA Parklane as the Lady Pioneers took a decisive 29-point win Tuesday night.

Parklane’s stifling defense was too much for Centreville in the first half. The Lady Tigers managed to score just two points in the first quarter and four points in the second quarter as they fell behind 27-6 at halftime. The only quarter the Lady Tigers scored in double digits was the third quarter, when they ended up with 16 points.

Leighton Honea scored 10 points and Kellen Choate had eight points to lead Parklane.