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FERRIDAY — Pamerion Swanson and Sugar Ray Watson led Ferriday High School with 17 points each as the No. 13 seed Trojans held on for a 64-59 win over the No. 20 seed Homer High School Pelicans last Friday night in the bi-district round of the 2023 LHSAA Boys’ Division IV (Non-Select) State Playoffs.

The game was played at the Ferriday Junior High School Gymnasium and the raucous crowd cheered on the home team as the Trojans looked to extend their three-game winning streak. However, the Pelicans would give them everything they could handle.

Ferriday jumped out to a 16-6 lead over Homer, but the Pelicans did their best to make sure the Trojans would pull away. In fact, Homer outscored Ferriday in each of the last three quarters. The problem for the Pelicans was they could not make enough stops on defense.

Homer outscored Ferriday 17-14 in the second quarter and 18-17 in both the third and fourth quarters.

“Came out in a good rhythm in the last three games, and it carried over to the fourth game. Chemistry is getting better,” Trojans head coach Shawn Davis said. “Big game from Sugar Ray Watson. He had a career high in minutes. He only averages about 16 minutes a game. He played about 28 minutes the other night.”

In addition to the career high in minutes played, Watson also had career highs in points with 17 and rebounds with 12. Davis said that while Swanson scored a little below his season average of 20 points a game, he still had a good game. So did Kenyan Milligan, who scored right at his average with 15 points

“They’re holding steady,” Davis said about both Swanson and Milligan. “I want to give some love to a reserve player, Coby Boxley. Coby is pretty much the glue that holds the team together. He doesn’t score a lot, but he gets a lot of steals, deflections, offensive rebounds. He makes the extra pass. He does a little bit of everything.”

Another player who played a key role in the Trojans’ win was Markeith Terrell, who finished with 8 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocked shots.

Ferriday (16-11) travel to Lebeau, La., to take on No. 4 seed North Central High School in the regional round at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.