Mamou at Dunham

With his Mamou team entering the playoffs, John Jack tried to keep everything as normal. "We look at it as just another game, but on the same token it's a little different- it's a playoff game," he said. "So we know the implicatons, and we just gonna try to play with what we been doing at this point."
He admitted that his team was "gonna try to mix it up a little bit" against Dunham, but he stressed "it's just another road game."
On the other end of the court, Jonathan Pixley's plan "was to try to force tempo and play in transition as much as we could."
Jack's game plan translated well onto the court on the defensive end, but offensivley his team struggled to make its shots. In the end fatigue set in as Mamou could not keep up with the pace of the game. It was Dunham that advanced onto the second round scoring 66 points to Mamou's 48.
"I thought they shot the ball extremely well, and I knew they were a permiter team, and they certainly proved it tonight," said Jack about the Dunham team. "We had our chances. We missed a lot of easy opportunities in the first half."
"In the first half they matched our intensity very well and did exactly what I expected them to do coming in here for a playoff game," said Pixley. "They wanted to continue their season, and so did we. We just happened to luck up and get a win."
Luke Thomas tied it up for Mamou after Dunham made a pair of free throws. Russell Edwards later in the first quarter tied it up again at 10 as he converted on the three point play. However Dunham at that point started taking control of the game. At the end of the opening quarter Mamou trailed 21-13.
Mamou was trying to keep it close on defense and at the charity stripe, but Dunham again made it a 10-point game three minutes before halftime. The first half closed out with Mamou trailing 33-21.
Edwards scored a layup in the early goings of the second half and swatted the ball away from the Dunham shooter, but again his team could not capitalize on the turnover. The hardest challenge in the second half Mamou faced on offense was looking into the rowdy student section.
Mamou provided some fireworks in the second half as Trey Wilson scored a big three ball to make the score 49-28. Mamou drilled another trey to make it a 20-point deficit in the waning moments of the third. Mack Thomas and Luke Thomas each added three pointers from long range.
The loss did not take anything away from the season. "I thought we had a really great season," said Jack. "We hadn't been in the playoffs in five or six years, so it's a good feeling to have an opportunity to play in the playoffs. So all we can do is hope for next year."

Mamou wins against Dunham

Jim Mora may not have wanted to talk about the playoffs when back in 2001 he ranted "What’s that? Ah — Playoffs? Don’t talk about — playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game! Another game."
But Mark Temple did want to talk about it Thursday night. "Being in the dance is big," said the coach of the Mamou Lady Demons. "It's big to be in it, and it's even bigger to make it to that next round because we (go) from 32 to 16. So we just steadily pushing to try to get to the ultimate goal and get to Hammond."

His team's opponent in the opening round was The Dunham School of Baton Rouge. It was a game of how the pendulum turns as Mamou took a 30-23 lead into the locker room at the half, but Mamou got that proverbial shut down inning in the third quarter. Mamou in the end advanced to the next round as it won over Dunham 61-36 and will host Episcopal Monday night.
Temple said his team wanted to speed up the game against Dunham. "They are a team that likes to play slow, so what we did we made the game faster to get them out of character and control the tempo of the game. And that was the key to the victory."
Gabby Zia scored a three pointer for Dunham off of the opening tip. With her team down 4-1, Darelzray Bellard drilled a three pointer of her own from way downtown to tie the game. Kiajah Wilson stole the ball away and scored to take the lead and the momentum.
Dunham tied it at the free throw line, but Mamou regained the lead on the next possession. Michiko Jackson with her hair in her eyes made a layup, but Mamou responded on the other end to go up 12-8. Bellard picked up the defensive rebound and the score, and at the end of the first quarter Mamou led 14-8.
Each team began the second quarter in the bonus with Dunham having eight fouls to Mamou's seven. Ka'zhara Richard doubled up the Mamou lead then sank a big three ball to go up 19-8. After Bellard made both free throws, Unjel Lazard made a basket putting her team up 23-10.
Aishia Brady stole the ball and scored to bring the game back within single digits halfway through the second quarter. Zia with her toes on the arc scored to make it a four point game, and Hannah Barrow with her heels on the arc scored to make it a five point game with under a minute left on the first half clock.
Mamou opened the scoring in the second half with successive free throws to take a 10-point lead. Arkie Thomas and Bellard extended the lead on back-to-back scores. Dunham called a full timeout at the 4:24 mark with Mamou leading 37-23. Thomas would then give her team a 21-point advantage on the scoreboard with a under a minute on the clock in the third. At the end of three, Mamou led 48-30.
Mamou began the fourth quarter in the bonus as Dunham had eight fouls to Mamou's four. Bellard scored white with a long range three to go up 52-30. Caitlin Thomas scored off the assist from Thomas, and Kamaneisha Wilson added a score to go up 57-32 on the northside of halfway through the final quarter to seal the win for the Lady Demons.

Ville Platte wins district against Eunice

The dust had settled after another Mardi Gras had come and gone, and the dust from burnt palm branches marked the heads of the faithful marking the start of the Lenten season. But there was still dust to settle on the road to the district championship in District 5-3A as the Lady Bulldogs of Ville Platte forced a playoff game against Eunice for the title. Nineteen points separated the two teams at the end of the game Thursday night on a neutral court in Prairie Ronde, but Eunice drew the short end of the stick. Ville Platte took home another district championship by the score of 41-22.
Dot Doulet described winning the championship as awesome. "Every year since we started coaching here we've been district champs, and tonight to come in and compete for it with an extra game meant a whole lot to us," said Doulet. "The girls did what we asked them to do. They were very patient in the game. They made good shot selection, and they worked the paint like we asked them."
Shay Vigors knocked down a three ball to put Eunice on the board first, and Miya McKinney gave the Bulldogs the lead with back-to-back baskets. Kealogah Calvin stole the ball away and scored to go up 9-3. Great ball movement for the Bulldogs translated to another layup giving them a healthy lead half way through the first quarter.
Eunice's coach Wayne Fontenot yelled at his team to settle, and they responded and stemmed the tide at least for the moment. Vigors puts an end to the Ville Platte scoring run with back-to-back scores. Stacie White knocked down a trey making it a 1 point game in the waning seconds of the opening quarter. Makayla Ardoin extended the lead on the other side of the court, and Ville Platte led 13-10 after one quarter.
White scored a layup for Eunice and was fouled. She converted on the 3 point play putting her team within 2 at 15-13. She tied the game at 15 with 3:16 as a timeout was called on the court. Calvin puts the Bulldogs back up by 2, and the first half clock expired with Ville Platte leading 17-15.
Lajaia Leday extended the lead to 19-15 early in the 3rd quarter. Calvin thenscored on the assist from Ardoin to go up 23-15. Vigors picked up the offensive rebound and scored making it a 23-17 game with under two minutes to play in the third quarter. Zaria Fontenot sunk a three ball and added an easy layup giving the Bulldogs a double-digit lead. At the end of three quaters of play in Prairie Ronde, Ville Platte led 30-19.
McKinney made an apparent shot from behind the back for a basket to go up 32-19 as a timeout was called on the court with all fives remaining on the clock, and Calvins with second chance points scored to extend the lead to 15 and closed the door on the Bobcat hopes of a district title.
Doulet after the game talked about the road foward going into the playoffs. "We have to wait until the brackets come out on Monday, and we have to get back in the gym and start preparing quickly just to brush up on some things that we know that we are decent at, and we gonna try to push our way through with what we know."