Notre Dame edges Eunice in tournament semifinals

Defense was the name of the game on Tuesday in the Large School Bracket semifinals of the St. Edmund Holiday Shootout.
Notre Dame forced over 20 turnovers and limited Eunice to nearly 30 points below their season average in a thrilling 29-28 victory over the Bobcats.
The victory sent the Pios to 7-0 and also propelled them into last night’s championship game against Class 5A Sulphur, which defeated Mamou, 57-54, in their semifinal contest.
“When we rotate on defense and we play as one, it’s going to be hard to score the ball against us,” said ND coach Duke Daigle, whose squad held the Bobcats to just seven points in the first half.
That was obvious in the first quarter when the Bobcats, who were averaging just below 60 points per game, were limited to just two points on a basket by Clarence Arceneaux with under two minutes remaining in the period.
The Pios, on the other hand, got going with seven straight points from junior standout Teddy Menard and Zach Lamm drilled a 3-pointer late in the period to give Notre Dame an 11-2 advantage.
The pace slowed to a near crawl in the second quarter with the two teams combining for just nine points.
Tylon Cooper knocked down a shot seconds into the frame for the Bobcats and Notre Dame answered nearly four minutes later with a putback by Nick Swacker. Menard added another driving layup with under two minutes remaining and Eunice’s Rondrelyn Mitchell buried a 3-pointer just before the half to trim the lead to 15-7.
“We have a level that we can go up and I think we showed that today against a very good Class 4A team,” said Daigle. “When we rotate wisely and play in the scheme, we can make it tough on our opponent and that’s what happened in the first half.”
The Bobcats inched back into the game in the second half with some big defensive stops of their own.
Eunice forced the Pios into six turnovers in the third period and went on a 7-2 run to start the frame.
Jackson Casanova scored the Pios’ first basket midway through the quarter on a layup and Lamm added a floater in the lane to give the Pios a 19-14 advantage. Nick Swacker closed out the period by hitting one of two free throw attempts to push the lead to 20-16.
Eunice’s pressure defense continued to cause the Pios trouble in the final frame and created seven more turnovers, enabling the Bobcats to make a late push.
After a layup by Menard to start the period, Eunice got seven straight points from Cooper to tie the game at 23-23 with seven minutes remaining.
A pair of free throws from Swacker and another driving layup from Menard pushed the lead back to four (27-23) but Terrance Shilon’s 3-pointer got the Bobcats back within one at 27-26 near the midway point of the period.
The two teams traded layups and turnovers from there, leaving the Pios with a one-point advantage (29-28).
The Pios had a chance to seal the victory with three seconds left, but they missed the front end of a 1-and-1, giving the Bobcats one last chance.
Eunice standout Dedric Vigers launched a shot from near half court at the buzzer but came up just short to end the game.
“I think our offense did a good job with our scheme tonight,” said Daigle. “We knew we weren’t going to score a ton of points with two freshmen on the floor, but we played possession basketball and we were able to withstand their run.
“We turned it over a bit more in the second half, but I think that was due to fatigue because they pressured us. All in all, rotations on defense and strength and possession on offense won the game for us.
“This was a total team win.”
One of the biggest keys for the Pios was shutting down Vigers and guard Jon’darius Mayo. Neither was able to score in the loss.
“We knew that they ran their offense through No. 10 (Vigers) and Jackson Casanova and Grady Faulk did a great job defending him,” said Daigle. “That made their offense have to be different.
“To hold a team like that to 28 points, that’s a great win.”
Menard finished with a game-high 14 points, including five of the Pios’ nine points in the fourth quarter. He also had two rebounds and two assists.
“We know that Teddy can get to the rim and he did a great job today of finishing,” said Daigle.
Swacker followed with six points, eight rebounds and six assists and Lamm had five points, seven rebounds and six steals. Casanova finished with four points, two rebounds and two steals.
Other Action
In other tournament action at St. Edmund, the Lacassine Cardinals used a smothering defense and had three players score in double figures in an 80-37 thrashing of Northside Christian.
The loss sent the Warriors (10-12) into yesterday’s Small School Bracket consolation game against Basile.
The Cardinals (17-5) took on Grace Christian in the championship game.
In Tuesday’s contest, the two teams played to a 16-16 tie after the first quarter before Lacassine broke the game wide open with a 20-5 run in the second frame.
The Cardinals forced 13 turnovers in the period and 18 more over the final two frames.
A 19-4 run by the Cardinals in the third quarter pushed the lead to 55-28.
The Cardinals outscored the Warriors 25-9 in the final stanza.
Aaron Garcia led the Cardinals with a game-high 24 points. Taiwan Jones and Kane Broussard also scored in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Caleb Hanks paced the Warriors with 16 points and Joseph Woods added six. Jagger Thibodeaux followed with five points, Jake Morgan scored four and Garrett Kidder had three. Christian Myers and Andrew Woods rounded out the Warriors’ offense with two and one point, respectively.
Gents upend Red Devils
PORT BARRE – The Crowley Gents ended a three-game skid on Tuesday by upending Port Barre, 54-33.
Zuri Poullard and Chris George each scored four points in the second quarter to help the Gents take a 25-15 lead into the half.
The Gents (3-11) added to their lead in the third quarter by outscoring the hosts 14-9 thanks to four points each from Poullard, Dustin Walters and Trevonta Ben.
Ben added six more of his team-high 14 points in the fourth quarter and the Gents outscored the Red Devils 15-8 over the final eight minutes.
Port Barre’s Paul Mallet led all scorers on the night with 20 points, including all nine of the hosts’ points in the final stanza.
Ben’s 14-point outburst paced the Gents and Poullard had 10 points.
Walters added nine points in the victory, George scored eight, Trevon Flugence and Floyd Flugence each had four and Rasheed Charles rounded out the offense with one point.