Niaira Jones and the Charles Henderson Trojans improved their record to 8-1 on the season after defeating Bullock County 59-30 Tuesday night in Union Springs.

The Trojans had three players score in double figures in the night, and despite what coach Dyneshia Jones described as a sluggish performance by her defense, the Trojans were able to leave Union Springs with a decisive victory.

“The ending result was good,” Jones said. “We started off a little sluggish in the first quarter. I thought they looked a little tired. We had trouble rotating and moving our feet on defense.”

The Trojans jumped out and took control in the first quarter despite a lackadaisical start and ended the opening quarter with a 13-2 lead over the Hornets.

The second quarter was more tightly contested. The Trojans outscored the Hornets by three points in the quarter, and they entered the locker room at half time with a 29-15 lead.

“We weren’t able to pull away,” Jones said. “It was a lot of little things. They understand my term ‘meet and greet’ or ‘picking up their man,’ and they weren’t doing that. They were letting up easy passes and easy shots.”

The game stayed close throughout the third quarter, and the Trojans were able to extend their lead to 43-25 heading into the fourth quarter.

In the final quarter the Trojans were finally able to pull away. Niaria Jones, Maori Davenport and India Blakely helped the Trojans outscore the Hornets 16-5 in the games final quarter.

Niaira finished with a team high 19 points for the Trojans while Davenport and Blakely finished with 13 and 11 points. Both Davenport and Blakeley finished with double doubles after Davenport finished with 12 rebounds and Blakely had 10 assists.

The Trojans were coming off two tournaments before heading to Union Springs, and the grueling trips to both Hoover and Carroll may have caught up with the Trojans.

“Sometimes when a team moves slow we tend to move slow with them,” Jones said. “I don’t think they underestimated them, I just think they looked sluggish.”

The Trojans will return home Friday when 7A and defending state champion Jeff Davis comes to Troy. Friday’s home game against Jeff Davis will mark the second time already this season the Trojans will match up with a 7A opponent. The Trojans lost to Hoover earlier in the year.

Jones hopes that the match up with teams from higher classifications will help build confidence and be a good measuring stick for her basketball team.

“It will be,” Jones said. “It will be good for my young girls to go up against an older and more experienced group of girls. We will be able to see where we are and where we stand.”

Fans in attendance will have the opportunity to see one of the nations top recruits and Florida State commit in Jasmine Walker.

Tip off between the Trojans and the Volunteers is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Friday.