The Vidalia Lady Vikings had no trouble forcing turnovers and getting the basketball to the rim Monday night against Tensas. But when it came to putting it in the hoop, things just weren’t going their way, and they eventually lost the game, 51-32.

“We got the turnover, and we can get the ball,” Vidalia head coach Fred Marsalis said. “Our zone and press defense helped us do that, but we just couldn’t do anything with it when we got it. I told them we’re going to have games like that, but sometimes we have to improve on those games.”

The Lady Vikings were in the contest most of the way, trailing by nine at halftime and the end of the third quarter. But, the Lady Panthers were able to outscore them 17-7 in the final quarter of play to pull away and seal the victory.

“We just got away from our game plan and didn’t do the things we were taught,” Marsalis said. “We blew layups and free throws, and we can’t do that and win.”

Vidalia also started the game slow, falling behind 15-6 after the first quarter, mainly because of their struggles with a full-court press from Tensas.

“We had trouble, and we knew they were going to press,” Marsalis said. “We put the press offense in for it, but the kids went blank and just couldn’t run it.”

But the Vikings were able to turn up the heat on defense themselves, and Marsalis said he was happy with how his team played defensively.

“Our zone-trap press was working,” he said. “The kids did a good job of running it. We did that and it worked, we caused turnovers, but then we didn’t do anything with it. We’ve got to improve on that.”

Bre’Honor Harris led Vidalia with 11 points, while Tierra Bell added seven of her own.

Tensas had three players score 15 points in the game, while Vidalia had just one double-digit scorer.

Bri’Anna Tolliver had five points, and Kayondra Williams was also on the score sheet for the Lady Vikings with four points.