Vidalia drops pair to Caldwell
by Joey Martin - posted Thursday, January 31st, 2013 @ 8:35 am

Vidalia High dropped a pair of games at Caldwell Parish, as the Viking boys lost 65-64, while the Vidalia girls fell 62-30 in Columbia Friday.

The Vikings are seeded at No. 37 in the Class 3A power rankings.

The top 32 teams advance to the playoffs.

Vidalia led 18-10 after one period of play, but the Spartans outscored the Vikings 23-8 in the second period to lead 33-26 at half-time.

Vidalia trailed Caldwell 65-64 with six seconds remaining and the ball out of bounds on their end of the court.

"We had the perfect play called with Julius Wilson going to the basket," said Vidalia coach Robert Sanders. "He was going to the goal, put up the shot and was fouled, but they said it was on the floor. Because they only had three fouls, we had to take it out of bounds. They literally pushed two of our players out of bounds and they gave them the ball."

Caldwell had a total of 12 fouls in the contest.

"They had 19 points in the third quarter, and 10 were from free throws," Sanders said.

Isiah Thompson paced the Vikings with 19 points, while Wilson added 15.

Vidalia fell to 6-16 overall and 3-3 in District 3-3A.

"It's a tough loss, but we have get some tough road wins now," Sanders said. "We're going to need some help if we want to win district. But the guys are playing hard."

Vidalia's girls actually held an 11-8 lead after the first quarter.

But the Lady Spartans outscored the Lady Vikings 18-4 in the second period and cruised to the win.

Shermel Bell paced the Lady Vikings with 18 points.

The Lady Vikings are seeded No. 44 in the power rankings.

Vidalia plays at Buckeye Friday before visiting Marksville on Feb. 8.

The Vikings end the regular season on Feb. 13 at home against Avoyelles Parish.