FERRIDAY — Jada Griggs led Ferriday with a game-high 15 points and Trenace Morgan scored 10 points as the Lady Trojans defeated the New Living Word Lady Lions 36-26 Thursday night.

After both teams struggled from the field in the first quarter, Ferriday outscored New Living Word, a Class C school out of Ruston, La., 13-10 in the second quarter to take an 18-15 lead into halftime.

The Lady Trojans’ defense came up big in the second half as they outscored the Lady Lions 11-7 in the third quarter and 7-4 in the fourth quarter to finally pick up their first win of the season.

“It’s a breath of relief really,” Ferriday head coach Lisa Abron said. “The girls can play more relaxed now with a win under their belts and knowing we can and are capable of winning now.”

Not only was Abron pleased with the defensive effort of her players, but how they moved the ball around and, for a change, didn’t let mistakes bother them.

“We did a good job on all aspects of the game. We turned it over a few times, but had enough points to stay in it and keep a good lead on them.”

The Lady Trojans (1-8) will have a difficult task on their hands today at the Miss-Lou Shootout at Vidalia High School when they take on Natchez High at 4 p.m.

New Living Word boys 67, Ferriday 54

FERRIDAY — Quavion Ellis was the only player for Ferriday to score in double figures as he finished with a game-high 25 points. New Living Word, on the other hand, had four players end up in double figures as the Lions defeated the Trojans Thursday night.

Ferriday led New Living Word 16-14 at the end of the first quarter, but the Lions started to take control of the game in the second half and led the Trojans 33-28 at halftime. The third quarter was more of the same as the Lions outscored the Trojans 18-12 to take a 51-40 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Trojans fell to 3-5 on the season and will take on Natchez High today at 5:45 p.m. at the Miss-Lou Shootout at Vidalia High.

WCCA boys 55, Tallulah Academy 52

TALLULAH, La. — Dra Tolliver scored 20 points and Jaylen Washington added 16 points as the Wilkinson County Christian Academy Rams held off Tallulah Academy’s furious fourth-quarter rally to defeat the Trojans in an MAIS District 6-A game Thursday night.

WCCA went into halftime trailing Tallulah Academy 31-28 and then proceeded to go on a tear in the third quarter. The Rams scored 22 points while holding the Trojans to nine points and took a 50-40 lead into the fourth quarter. With the Rams scoring just five points in the fourth, the Trojans should have won this game. Instead, they fell a few points short.

Austin Goodfellow chipped in with 12 points for WCCA (1-5, 1-1). The Rams next play at home against Centreville Academy Saturday afternoon.

Tallulah Academy girls 54, WCCA 29

TALLULAH, La. — Tallulah Academy had its way with Wilkinson County Christian Academy on both ends of the first half Thursday night as the Lady Trojans rolled to a 25-point win over the Lady Rams in their MAIS District 6-A opener.

WCCA managed just two points in the first quarter and five in the second quarter while Tallulah Academy scored 11 points in each quarter to into halftime leading 22-7. And even though the Lady Rams put up 16 points in the third quarter, the Lady Trojans scored 19 points.

Brandi Norwood led the Lady Rams (1-7, 0-1) with 11 points. WCCA plays host to Centreville Academy Saturday afternoon.

LaSalle at Monterey postponed

MONTEREY — Thursday night’s games between LaSalle High School and Monterey High School were postponed due to a scheduling conflict involving LaSalle, Wolves head basketball coach Cary Shively said.

The games will now take place on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013 and will still start with the junior varsity game at 5 p.m., followed by the varsity girls’ and varsity boys’ games.

Monterey will next play at Calvin on Tuesday, Dec. 18 at 5 p.m.