Not quite enough

VILLE PLATTE –When a game is played that has so much on the line, the expectation of watching a spectacular contest resonates in the air.
The Sacred Heart Lady Trojans and the Notre Dame Lady Pioneers did not disappoint the fans that piled into the gym Friday night, as Notre Dame held on for a wild 39-36 win over Sacred Heart in a game that had district championship implications written all over it.
With the win, Notre Dame now has a commanding two game lead over Sacred Heart in the District 4-2A race.
“This was a big game for us,” said Sacred Heart head coach Stephanie Fontenot. “Not only did we need this to pull even with Norte Dame in the district standings, we also needed it for power points to stay as high up in the rankings as possible.”
The Lady Trojans fall to 13-8 on the season and 3-2 in district play.
Notre Dame is now 11-10 on the season and 5-0 in district play.
From the opening tip it looked as if Sacred Heart was not going to be denied the win.
The Lady Trojans jumped out to an 8-0 lead before the Lady Pios could score their first basket with 4:00 left in the first quarter.
However, Notre Dame settled in and began to capitalize on some untimely Sacred Heart turnovers.
By the time the first quarter had come to a close, the Lady Pios had taken an 11-9 lead and the Lady Trojans had lost possession of the ball a total of 10 times.
Sacred Heart continued to struggle on offense and on the boards in the second quarter. Notre Dame held the Lady Trojans to only four points in the second quarter and a paltry five rebounds the whole first half, taking a 20-13 lead into the locker room.
The Lady Trojans regrouped at half time and came out with a renewed effort in the third and fourth quarters.
Sacred Heart managed to cut the Notre Dame lead down to six, 30-24 in the third quarter and carried that momentum into the final period.
The Lady Trojans tied the game at 30-30 with 5:43 to go in the contest and actually took a one point lead 1:23 seconds later on a basket by Gabbie Andrepont.
From that moment on it was a back and forth affair, with the Lady Pios sealing the game on a two-point basket with only 44 seconds left in the contet.
“We played a whole lot better in the second half,” said Fontenot. “We just did not have good enough shot selection down the stretch to finish the game.”
Andrepont led all Lady Trojans with 13 points, while Erin Fontenot chipped in eight points in the loss.
Sacred Heart will travel to Opelousas Catholic on Tuesday in another key district 4-2A game.