Blowout bonanza

MAMOU -- A pair of close first-half games turned into blowouts, as the Mamou Demons and the Lady Demons rolled past the Welsh Greyhounds and Lady Greyhounds in District 4-2A action here Friday night.
The Lady Demons were able to take a 21-21 tie at halftime and turn it into a 60-30 shellacking of the Lady Greyhounds, while the Demons took a three-point lead into the locker room and turned into a 78-46 route of the Greyhounds.
In the girl’s contest, Mamou took the opening tip and busted out to a 7-2 lead in the first four minutes of the initial quarter.
Welsh crept back into the game and cut the lead down to one, 11-10, at the 38 second mark with the last basket of the period.
The game teetered back and forth to open the second period until Mamou reeled off five points in a row to take a 19-14 lead with 2:22 left to go before halftime.
Welsh would answer, scoring the next seven of nine points to tie the game up right before the halftime buzzer sounded.
Mamou readjusted during intermission and began to utilize their superior athleticism in the third quarter by employing a full court press.
It seemed that with every turnover Welsh would hand deliver because of Mamou’s relentless defense, the Lady Demon offense would put points up on the board.
When the dust had settled in the third period, Mamou finished with a 20-1 advantage over Welsh to basically put the game out of reach.
The final quarter was a mirror image of the previous one, as the Lady Demons poured it on to finish out the game.
Darelzray Bellard scored 20 points to lead Mamou, while Braylin Charles added 18 points and Kiajah Wilson contributed 10 points.
With the win, Mamou is now 18-9 on the year and 5-3 in district. The Lady Demons will host Vinton Tuesday night.
In the boy’s game, Mamou jumped out to a 7-0 lead after just one minute of play, and led 17-7 at the 4:28 mark of the first quarter.
However, Welsh would work their way back into the game and cut the lead down to three, 19-15, on the last basket of the period.
The second quarter was a battle of wills. The Demons brought the lead to 26-20 on a Lil’ Paul Williams bucket with 3:32 left to go in the first half.
But, once again the Greyhounds would nibble back, cutting the score to one, 28-27, with only 40 seconds to go.
Mamou’s Tammrick Thomas hit a last second shot to bring the score to 30-27 as the horn sounded.
Just like Lady Demons in the previous game, the Demons rose to the occasion in the third quarter. Playing stellar defense, Mamou was able to get easy baskets on the offensive side of the court.
By the time the third quarter was over, the Demons held a 56-37 lead.
The final quarter was definitely all Demons, as they finished out the game with a 16-11 advantage.
Williams had 22 to lead Mamou in scoring, while Russell Edwards added 18 points and Thomas chipped in 13 points.
Mamou improves to 13-11 overall with the win and 5-2 in district competition.
The Demons will host Vinton on Tuesday night.