Sacred Heart takes hard loss to Menard in non-district play

VILLE PLATTE - Sometimes there is just no amount of practice that can prepare a team for an effective pressing defense.
Such was the case for the Sacred Heart Trojans, as they took a hard 66-39 loss to the Menard Eagles here Monday night.
Menard came out in a 2-2-1 press to open the game and did not relent on the defensive pressure the entire game. That defensive pressure resulted in a number of Trojan turnovers and a large amount of easy lay-ups.
The domination by the Eagles showed itself from the opening tip-off, as Menard jumped out to a 15-0 lead during the first 6:55 seconds of the game. Sacred Heart’s first score came on a Gaige Thille bucket with just over one minute left in the first quarter.
Menard continued to open up the lead, as they scored five more points, including a three-pointer from Alex Norton as time expired to make the score 20-4.
It was much of the same in the second quarter, as the mounting pressure from the Eagles continued to create havoc for the Trojans. Menard finished the last 4:23 of the stanza on a 15-0 run to take a 39-10 lead into the locker room.
Sacred Heart could not inch any closer to Menard in the third quarter, as the Eagles advantage grew to 35 points after they outpaced the Trojans 16-10 in the period.
The final quarter saw a great amount of action from both the Sacred Heart and Menard benches, as the Trojans had their most productive quarter, scoring 19 points.
With the loss, Sacred Heart falls to 1-3 on the year.