FERRIDAY — Usually when the Ferriday Lady Trojans jump out to a big lead, the game is over and head coach Lisa Abron can put in her reserves. That was not the case, however, Friday night against a good Madison Parish team.

The Lady Trojans nearly let a double-digit lead slip away in the fourth quarter because of turnovers, but they were able to hold on for a 55-53 win over the Lady Jaguars to improve to 15-1 on the season.

“We had costly turnovers that led to their comeback,” Abron said. “We were panicking when we should have been taking care of the ball. That almost cost us. I hope we’re able to turn it around during the break and get things going like we should.”

The first quarter was a seesaw battle that ended with Ferriday taking a 13-10 lead. It appeared that the Lady Trojans were ready to put the game away after outscoring Madison Parish 17-8 in the second quarter for a 30-18 halftime lead. But the Lady Jaguars had other ideas.

Even though Jasmine Upchurch, Atasia Banks and Chante Poole tried their best to increase Ferriday’s lead in the third quarter, Madison Parish’s Tequilla Vaughn and Carolyn Harris would not let that happen. Both teams scored 15 points and the Lady Trojans still maintained their 12-point lead.

But then the Lady Jaguars went on a tear in the fourth quarter, thanks largely to their defense. They forced several turnovers, which led to easy fast-break baskets. But in the end, the Lady Trojans scored enough points to escape with the win despite being outscored 20-10 in the final eight minutes.

“I’m proud of the effort and happy we won. We need to learn to keep our composure in tight games, but in the end we pulled it out,” Abron said.

Upchurch led Ferriday with 20 points while Banks added 13 points and Poole chipped in with 11 points. Vaughn led Madison Parish (8-3) with a game-high 26 points and Harris had 13 points.

Trinity Episcopal 59,

Centreville 24

CENTREVILLE — With its showdown with Class AAA powerhouse Jackson Prep less than 24 hours away, Trinity Episcopal could have been caught looking past Centreville and looking ahead to taking on the Lady Patriots.

At least the Lady Tigers were hoping that would be the case Friday night.

But there was no such luck as the Lady Saints scored 31 points in the first quarter and rolled to an impressive 35-point win to improve to 9-6 on the season.

After Trinity Episcopal got out to such a big lead so early in the game, Lady Saints head coach Richy Spears went to his bench. In fact, every player on the roster ended up in the scoring column. Bethany Ogden led the way with 15 points while M.C. Iles had 14 points and Caroline Ketchings added 10 points.

Olivia Ledbetter scored eight points, and Kristie Brock had five points to lead Centreville.

While Trinity Episcopal will travel to Jackson to take on Jackson Prep today, Centreville will host Adams County Christian School.

Tensas Academy 45,

Tallulah Academy 36

ST. JOSEPH, La. — Tensas Academy head coach Chuck Bauerle put in a game plan to make sure that Tallulah Academy was going to have to rely on someone other than Anna Beth and Katie Book if the Lady Trojans were to defeat the Lady Chiefs Friday night.

And that game plan worked quite nicely as the Lady Chiefs held the Book girls to a combined nine points while offensively, Emma Arceneuax and Jordan Leake were instrumental in their big win over the Lady Trojans in MPSA District 6-A action.

Tensas Academy (9-6, 1-0) did get off to a slow start, but the defense allowed the Lady Chiefs to not only stay in the game, but take the lead late in the first half. Mary Miller Ratcliff had another solid performance with a game-high 18 points but got some unexpected help from Arceneaux, who had 11 points, and Leake, who finished with nine points.

“It’s a good win for us. It puts us on the right path for the district tournament,” Bauerle said. “I thought we played good on defense. We concentrated on the Book girls. They’ve gotten us a few times before. Emma really stepped up and made some terrific shots. Jordan has had two good games back-to-back. Defense and Emma and Jordan stepping up, I thought that was the key for us.”

Anna Beth Book scored just six points and Katie Book managed a mere three points for Tallulah Academy, which dropped to 1-1 in district play. The Lady Trojans were led by Katherine Post and Mary Givens with nine points each.

Franklin County 72,

Jefferson County 43

MEADVILLE — Vintrice Briggs led four Franklin County players in double figures with 16 points as the Lady Dawgs used a big third quarter to pull away from the Lady Tigers in a Region 7-3A game Friday night.

Franklin County led by just three points, 16-13, at the end of the first quarter. However, the Lady Dawgs would extend their lead to 11 points at halftime. But it was the third quarter that proved to be the difference as the Lady Dawgs outscored the Lady Tigers 22-8 for a commanding 56-31 lead.

Kierra Collins had 12 points while Monique Starks and Jessica Jackson scored 10 points each for Franklin County. Brittany Wyatt and Erin Wells led Jefferson County (5-6, 1-1) with 11 points each and Charika Carradine scored nine points.

Dexter 49, Cathedral 41

TYLERTOWN — Ginny Daggett scored 16 points and Ana Perry had 15 points, but it was not enough as the Lady Green Wave lost to the Lady Bulldogs Friday night in Region 8-1A action.

Even though Daggett and Perry outscored Dexter’s top two scorers — Ashley Blackwell and Dee Harvey — they didn’t have as much support offensively as Blackwell and Harvey did, and that was the difference in this game. Blackwell scored 16 points and Harvey had 10 points.

It also didn’t help Cathedral (3-7, 1-1) that it scored just seven points in the first quarter and never could get a rally going to turn the momentum in its favor.

WCCA 46, Huntington 35

WOODVILLE — Mary Claire Netterville led a balanced scoring attack for WCCA with 13 points, and Teri Fisher had 10 points as the Lady Rams defeated the Lady Hounds Friday night in MPSA District 6-A action.

The second and third quarters proved to be the key factor in WCCA’s win. The Lady Rams outscored Huntington 17-9 in the second quarter to turn a two-point lead after one quarter of play into a 10-point halfitme lead. They then outscored the Lady Hounds 14-9 in the third quarter en route to a 15-point lead.

WCCA improved to 8-4 overall and 1-1 in district play. Julia Corbett led Huntington (N/A, 1-1) with 11 points and Julie Moak had 10 points.

Oak Forest 60, ACCS 38

AMITE, La. — Lauren Brumfield, Cassie Bennett and Ashlyn Neal combined for 41 points to lead the Lady Yellow Jackets, one of the top team in Class AA, to a 22-point win over the Lady Rebels Friday afternoon.

Brumfield led Oak Forest with 15 points, while Bennett finished with 14 points and Neal added 12 points. After getting off to a sluggish start, the Lady Yellow Jackets started to pull away in the second quarter and then put the game out of reach with a 23-point third quarter.

Sebrenah Belgard led ACCS with 10 points. Rachel Holloway had nine points and Rachel Holloway chipped in with six points and 11 rebounds.