Opening statement

VILLE PLATTE - A shaky first half turned into a nine point victory for the Sacred Heart Lady Trojan basketball team here Tuesday night, as they opened their season against the Opelousas High Lady Tigers with a 36-27 win.
After the game, Sacred Heart head coach Stephanie Fontenot was relatively pleased with her team’s performance.
“I thought we did a lot of good things tonight,” stated Fontenot. “We still have to be more patient on offense and when we get an open shot we need to make sure that we square up to the basket. But, for the first game of the season, I was really pleased with the intensity of the team.”
Opelousas got on the board right out of the gate with a pair of free throws after a Sacred Heart foul on a shot attempt.
The Lady Trojans countered with an 11 point run capped off by a three-point basket and a lay-up from senior guard Erin Fontenot.
The Lady Tigers crept back into the game with two made baskets of their own to cut the lead to 11-6 with 18 seconds left to go in the first quarter.
The second quarter was a back and forth affair with each team not wanting to give any ground.
Opelousas and Sacred Heart traded baskets throughout the period. Destiny Poullard, the Lady Tiger forward, did much of the damage for Opelousas in the quarter, scoring all seven of their points.
At the 2:20 mark, the Lady Tigers cut the lead down to two, 15-13. However, Fontenot hit a two-point basket 24 seconds later to give the Lady Trojans a 17-13 lead going into the locker room.
The third quarter brought more of the same, as neither team could gain an advantage over the other.
Sacred Heart opened a five point lead, 23-18, on a basket by Fontenot with 1:31 left in the period. But, Opelousas would answer with a bucket of their own 34 seconds later to trim the lead to three.
A two-point basket from Sacred Heart’s Moira Parks and a single free throw from Poullard would close out the scoring in the quarter and make it 25-21 in favor of the Lady Trojans.
After a basket from Opelousas cut the lead down to two to open the fourth quarter, Sacred Heart went on an 11 point run in a matter of two and half minutes. In that run, senior forward Andie Landry connected on three huge baskets, including a three-pointer from the top of the arch.
Most of the damage done in that time span came off of turnovers from the Lady Tigers. Those turnovers were created by the pressure defense of the Lady Trojans.
Opelousas tried to crawl back into the game, but could only add three more points to their total.
“We played defense better tonight than we have in a long time,” commented Fontenot. “We are just going to have to continue to do the right things and play with this type of intensity.”