Vidalia — Vidalia High boys’ basketball is on a roll.

The Vikings may have finished at the top of LHSAA 3A-District 3 last year, but they’re doing one better this season, leading all of Class 3A with an 18-1 record.

Vidalia has beaten neighbor and foe Ferriday five times by an average of 15 points and has whipped up on Franklin Parish — a team that swept the Vikings last year — by an average of 11 points over three games.

Their only loss came by one point to Sicily Island, who the Vikings beat two more times by 7 points before a 38-point blowout on Dec. 31.

“I really didn’t expect to be at this point because of some of the teams we’ve beaten,” said Vidalia coach Robert Sanders. “We split with Ferriday last season.”

But the Vikings are at the top now.

And while Roberts said the No. 1 ranking has been good for the kids, he said he’d almost rather be lower on the totem pole.

“It lets them know their hard work is paying off,” he said. “But to be honest, I’d rather not be so visible. I’d rather go in under the radar. This puts a target on their backs and gets everyone aiming for them.”

But for now, the Vikings will have to deal with being top dog.

Sanders said the team has gained cohesiveness since last season, due in part to the seven to eight years of familiarity the players have with one another.

“I don’t know if there’s a secret, but the nucleus of the team is the junior class,” Sanders said. “They’ve been playing with each other since fourth grade.”

Another part of the equation is the four summer basketball camps the team attended. They traveled to Jena, La., Louisiana College in Pineville, Monterey and Mississippi State during the off-season.

“That helped us gel as a team also,” Sanders said.

At the helm of the team is junior Gary Stewart.

Primarily a center and forward, Sanders said Stewart can play any position on the court.

The 6-foot-4-inch Stewart has even taken the reins at point guard in the Vikings’ last two games at Franklin Parish.

“He’s taller than most guards that we play so he can see over them and find his own teammates,” Sanders said. “He’s a leader vocally and as far as his play (is concerned).”

Stewart, who is averaging 14.3 points per game this season and shooting 53 percent from the field, has received interest from Kansas, LSU and Baylor, Sanders said.

“But I don’t think he’s really thinking about it,” Sanders said.

And the team isn’t thinking about it’s impressive record, either.

Sanders said the Vikings have been loose in practice, something he expects to change before their first district contest Jan. 20 at Bunkie.

“They are probably one of our tougher opponents in District 3,” Sanders said. “Maybe later in the week or into next week they will start to get more focused.”

District ball is always a bit tougher, Sanders said, especially since it’s only Vidalia’s second year at the 3A level.

But as long as what the Vikings are doing is working, not much is going to change.

“We change if we play a team the first time and what we did proved to be unsuccessful,” Sanders said. “But if it’s not broken, don’t try to fix it.”