FOLEY – The third time was the charm for the Daphne Trojans in the 6A sub-regional round.

The Trojans had lost in the sub-regional round two years in a row before defeating Foley 61-35 on Friday to advance to the South Regional at Troy University. The eighth-ranked Trojans (22-5) will play sixth-ranked Central-Phenix City this afternoon at 1:30.

“We are excited,” Daphne coach Cedric Yelding said. “This is our first time to go to the regional round. It is a big accomplishment for these guys and for our school.”

After Foley jumped out to a 2-0 lead early, the Trojans took the lead and never lost it. Daphne led 12-5 at the end of the first period and held a 21-15 lead at the half. The Trojans extended the lead to 37-23 by the end of the third.

Yelding said his team got into foul trouble early, keeping them from being able to press Foley.

“Marceice (Jackson) got into foul trouble early on and we had to kind of back off our pressure,” Yelding said. “We didn’t have to worry about fouls so much later in the second half, so we stepped up the pressure. Foley did a good job controlling the tempo in the first half, but we were able to control it later on.”

Jackson led all scorers with 14 points in the win. Terrell Crandall contributed nine points to the victory. Marcus Washington and Cordarrell McGaster had 12 points each for Foley in the loss.

The Lions, who won the 6A Area 3 title, finished the season with a 13-13 record.

Yelding said his team would work on fundamentals of the game to get ready for a tough regional matchup with Central-Phenix City.

“We are going to work a little on all aspects of the game,” Yelding said. “We are a pretty well rounded team. We just need to get ready mentally.”