Holiday tourney time

It’s that time of the year again. Time for the Northwest High School Holiday Tournament.
The tournament in Prairie Rhonde has been going on for several years now and attracts some of the best competition around the state. Teams like Lakeview, Breaux Bridge, LaGrange and Scotlandville join up with teams from St. Landry and Evangeline Parishes to create an exciting tournament.
And, once again the Ville Platte High Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs were a part of that competition.
As of press time, the Lady Bulldogs had managed to make the semi-finals of the girl’s bracket with two opening wins.
The Bulldogs on the other hand competed against some higher level competition and were unable to come away with a win in two games.
Here is a roundup of the two games played from both the Bulldogs and the Lady Bulldogs in tournament play.

Ville Platte (B)
vs. Beau Chene
On Saturday evening, the Ville Platte High Bulldogs took on the Beau Chene Gators in a battle of cross-parish teams. Beau Chene took the 62-51 win.
Ville Platte could not get things moving offensively to begin the game, falling 15-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Beau Chene doubled up Ville Platte 16-8 in the second quarter to take a 31-15 lead into the locker room.
Ville Platte began to re-establish themselves offensively in the third quarter knocking in 13 points. However, the Gators were able to match that output and stayed on top at the end of the third quarter.
The Bulldogs charged forward in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Gators 24-18. But, ti was too little too late.
Martin Jason led the Bulldogs with 14 points.

Ville Platte (B) vs. LaGrange
In a knockout game for Ville Platte, the LaGrange Gators took a last second 60-58 win over the Bulldogs.
Ville Platte lead 34-26 at the end of the second quarter. However, LaGrange came out the half on fire offensively.
The Gators completed the comeback by outpacing the Bulldogs 24-14 in the second half.
Ville Platte was led by Shanicole Holland, who poured in 17 points in the loss.

Ville Platte (G)
vs. Breaux Bridge
Ville Platte took the hardcourt on the first night of the tournament and produced a 47-36 win over the Class 4A Breaux Bridge Lady Tigers.
The Lady Bulldogs took control of the game early, as they jumped out to a 15-5 first quarter lead behind Miya McKinney’s seven points.
Ville Platte continued to put pressure on Breaux Bridge in the second quarter. The Lady Bulldogs extended their lead going to 34-19 as the first half buzzer sounded.
Breaux Bridge showed that they were not ready to go away easy, outscoring Ville Platte 10-2 in the third quarter to make the score 36-29.
However, Ville Platte once again dominated offensively and defensively in the final quarter, outpacing the Lady Tigers 11-7 to preserve the win.
McKinney led all Lady Bulldogs with 18 points.

Ville Platte (G) vs. Lakeview
In a rematch from two weeks ago, the Ville Platte High Lady Bulldogs were able to extract revenge on the Lakeview Lady Gators.
Ville Platte lost to Lakeview on December 11 at Ville Platte by the score of 43-39.
That did not deter the Lady Bulldogs this time around, as they were able to walk away with a 30-25 win in this tournament contest.
As the low score indicated, both teams struggled offensively throughout the game, as each team’s defense was suffocating.
Lakeview took an early 9-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and led by one 14-13 as the first half drew to a close.
The Lady Bulldog defense was unbelievable in the third quarter holding the Lady Gators to zero points and helped Ville Platte to a 17-14 lead.
Ville Platte outscored Lakeview 13-11 in the final quarter to finsh out the win.
Keolagah Calvin led all Lady Bulldogs with 16 points.