Tough competition

PRAIRIE RHONDE -- It has been a tough ride for both the Ville Platte Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs in the Northwest Raider Holiday Tournament, having to face some of the toughest competition from around the state.
But, both teams have proven their worth so far, as each has gone 1-1 in the tourney up until this point.
The Lady Bulldogs opened with a loss to Lakeview in their opening game, but rebounded on Wednesday with a hard-fought 49-41 win over the St. Martinville Lady Tigers.
With that win, Ville Platte took on Mamou in the consolation finals on Thursday.
In the meantime, the Bulldogs took care of business on Monday with a solid win over Beau Chene. Nevertheless, Ville Platte failed to take advantage of some mistakes by the Lagrange Gators in a close 46-42 loss.
The Bulldogs fell into the third place game on Thursday against Port Allen.
The Gazette will have coverage of those two games in Thursday’s edition due to time constraints.
Here is a recap of the two games played.

Ville Platte (G)
vs. St. Martinville
When the game opened, it seemed as if Ville Platte had everything under control, as they scored the first five points of the game.
St. Martinville answered back, taking over the lead 8-7 at the 3:45 mark.
Ville Platte then reeled off the next eight points and held a 17-13 lead as the first quarter came to a close.
The second and third quarters belonged to St. Martinville, as the Lady Tigers tied the game at 27-27 as the half expired and took a 35-33 lead at the end of the third period.
The Lady Bulldogs reached deep down inside in the final quarter out-scoring the Lady tigers 16-6 to seal the win.
Tyreonna Doucet netted a game high 21 points and Miya McKinney chipped in 16 points for the Lady Bulldogs.

Ville Platte (B)
vs. Lagrange
It was an offensive struggle for both teams, as the Bulldogs and Gators combined for only 26 points in the first quarter of play, with Lagrange taking a 16-10 lead as the period ended.
Ville Platte crawled back to within one point, 16-15, as they scored the first five points of the second quarter. But, Lagrange had an answer, knocking down the next four points to take a 20-15 lead with five minutes left in the half.
As the first half buzzer sounded, Lagrange held a 23-19 lead.
The third quarter went back and forth between the two teams, as Ville Platte managed to get within one point, 33-31, as the quarter ended.
But, in the end it was the height advantage of the Gators that eventually gave them the win. In the final period, Lagrange was able to use their size to out-score Ville Platte 13-11 and take the win.
Brandon Thomas led all Bulldog scorers with 10 points.