Your news, sports and entertainment leader for Evangeline Parish, La.

Article Image Alt Text

Ville Platte High center Tyreonna Doucet (35) goes up high for a lay-up against two Northwest High defenders, while teammate Miya McKinney (22) awaits a possible rebound. Ville Platte defeated Northwest 62-39 to claim the District 5-3A championship, by going a perfect 10-0. (Gazette photo by Tracey Jagneaux)

Major impact

Lady Bulldogs claim district crown; Bulldogs fall to Raiders

By: TRACEY
JAGNEAUX
Sports Editor

PRAIRIE RHONDE -- Two games with major impacts on the rest of the season took place here Tuesday night, as the Ville Platte Bulldogs and the Lady Bulldogs took on the Northwest Raiders and Lady Raiders.
For the Lady Bulldogs, a 62-39 thrashing of the Lady Raiders gave Ville Platte another undefeated district season and possibly a boost in their playoff ranking.
With this title, the Lady Bulldogs have not surrendered the district crown since head coach Dot Doulet has taken over the program.
“This feels really good to once again win the district championship, especially for the seniors,” said Doulet. “We knew that Northwest was coming for us, but we rose to the challenge. We made things happen in all aspects of the game tonight.”
As for the Bulldogs, a win over the Raiders would have put them two games ahead of Northwest in the district championship race, with only two games left in the season.
Unfortunately for Ville Platte, the Raiders were on their game, as they defeated the Bulldogs 58-48.
“It was a tough game for us,” stated Ville Platte head coach Tommy Jones. “We just could not find the basket tonight. Now we have to win the rest of the games and hope Northwest loses one of their last games if we want to be outright district champions.”
In the opening contest, the Lady Bulldogs scored the initial basket of the game, but then found themselves down 5-2 on two quick baskets by the Lady Raiders.
The lead changed hands two more times until Ville Platte took control 10-9 at the 1:35 mark, with a bucket from center Tyreonna Doucet.
The last basket of the quarter, a three-pointer from Ville Platte’s Miya McKinney, stretched the Lady Bulldog lead to 13-9.
Ville Platte opened a 19-11 run to start the second quarter, only to have Northwest pull back to within five only two minutes later.
The Lady Bulldogs and the Lady Raiders exchanged baskets the rest of the half, as Ville Platte went into the locker room with a 25-18 lead.
From that point forward it was all Lady Bulldogs, as they expanded that lead to 12 points, 37-25, as the third quarter closed.
Ville Platte finished the game on a 25-14 run.
The Lady Bulldogs are now 24-7 on the year and will close out the regular season on the road against Rayne.
In the boy’s game, Ville Platte stormed out of the gate, taking an 11-0 lead before Northwest could blink.
However, the Raiders would settle down and cut the Bulldog lead down to three, 15-12, as the first quarter buzzer sounded.
Northwest took over the lead, 18-17, at the 5:06 mark of the second quarter, as they went on a 6-2 run to open the period.
Ville Platte netted the next five points of the quarter, regaining the lead at 22-18. But, once again Northwest would respond, closing the gap to two points, 24-22 as the first half came to an end.
The third quarter became the turning point of the game. After the Bulldogs hit the first basket of the period, the Raiders went a 21-4 run to overtake Ville Platte and own a 43-30 lead as the horn sounded to close out the third quarter.
The Bulldogs tried to mount a comeback in the final quarter, but ran out of time.
With the loss, Ville Platte falls to 20-7 on the year and 6-2 in district play. This puts them in a tie with Northwest for first place.
Ville Platte will host Pine Prairie tomorrow night and Church Point on Tuesday.

Our website requires visitors to log in to view the best local news from Evangeline Parish. Not yet a subscriber? Subscribe today!

Follow Us

Subscriber Links