Tournament play opens in Pine Prairie Wednesday

The Pine Prairie Panthers and Lady Panthers opened play in their annual tournament on Wednesday. A total of seven boys and seven girls’ teams came to Pine Prairie to vie for the championship title, which will be decided on Saturday.
The tournament format guaranteed each team two games. Here is an update of games played up to this point in the tournament. Saturday’s games will be reported Thursday in The Gazette.

Wednesday

Eunice vs.
Northwest (girls)
In the first contest of the tournament the Eunice Lady Bobcats faced the Northwest Lady Raiders in an all St. Landry Parish game. The Lady Raiders lead at half by two points and out scored the Lady Bobcats 37-28 in route to a 63-54 victory.

Sacred Heart vs.
Pine Prairie (girls)
The second girls’ game of the evening pitted the Sacred Heart Lady Trojans against the Pine Prairie Lady Panthers in a rematch of a non-district game on Tuesday night. Sacred Heart exacted revenge on Pine Prairie defeating the Lady Panthers 54-21.
The Lady Trojans used a smothering defense as the weapon of choice, holding Pine Prairie under double digits in every quarter. Natalie Earles led Sacred Heart netting nine points. Kaitlyn Bradley was a one woman scoring machine for the Lady Panthers, scoring 13 points in the loss.

Notre Dame vs.
Mamou (boys)
The first boys’ game saw the Notre Dame Pioneers take on the Mamou Demons. The Pioneers jumped out to a 37-27 halftime lead and never looked back in a 77-67 win. The Demons were held to only four points in the first quarter.
A 24 point third quarter by Mamou was not enough to overcome the Pioneer early advantage. Mamou was lead by Russell Edwards who poured in 25 points. Trey Wilson added 12 points and Nathaniel Holland chipped in 10 points in the losing effort.

Oakdale vs.
Sacred Heart (boys)
The Sacred Heart Trojans and the Oakdale Warriors tangled in the last game of the evening. The Trojans scored 15 or more points in every quarter; however, a 23 point fourth quarter by the Warriors propelled them past Sacred Heart 67-64.
Sacred Heart led 38-32 at the end of the first half. Both squads were able to score 16 points in the third period, sustaining the Trojan lead. The fourth stanza proved to be the difference maker, with Oakdale outpacing the Trojans 23-16 to seal the win.
Sacred Heart was lead by Mikey Laughlin who netted 17 points. Sean Fontenot added 16 points, while Seth Shipp and Christopher Tate chipped in 14 points apiece.

Thursday

Marksville vs.
Plainview (girls)
The Marksville Lady Tigers and the Plainview Lady Hornets battled in game one Thursday afternoon. Plainview rode a 41-32 advantage in the first half to a 74-68 win. Marksville tried to overcome the deficit by out scoring Plainview 36-32 in the second half, but just ran out of time.

Plainview vs.
Pine Prairie (boys)
Opening their tournament play, the Pine Prairie Panthers faced the Plainview Hornets in a 6:30 p.m. contest. The Panthers took control of the game early on, out scoring Plainview 17-4 in the first quarter, in route to a 68-33 statement win.
Pine Prairie used a combination of great defense and a spot on offense to extend their lead to 37-13 as the first half came to a close. The Panthers ended the game by out scoring the Hornets 31-20 down the stretch to seal the victory.
Allen Myles led all Panther scorers with 13 points.

Notre Dame vs.
Crowley (boys)
The nightcap game on Thursday pitted two in-town rivals as the Notre Dame Pioneers took on the Crowley Gents. Crowley jumped out in the first half to a 34-27 lead and held on to a 63-56 win. The Pioneers out scored the Gents in the third quarter 20-11, but could not complete the comeback.

Friday

Northwest vs.
Sacred Heart (girls)
The first game on Friday was a winners’ bracket game between the Sacred Heart Lady Trojans and the Northwest Lady Raiders.
A slow start by the Lady Trojans set the tone in a 63-44 loss to the Lady Raiders. Northwest moved on top in the as the first quarter came to an end by outscoring Sacred Heart 13-6. The Lady Raiders continued to hold the lead, 29-16, at the end of the first half.
A 22-19 Lady Trojan advantage in the third period cut the Northwest lead to 48-38. Sacred Heart could only manage six points in the fourth quarter and were not able to cut into the Lady Raider lead, bowing out of the tournament with the loss. The Lady Trojans were led by Sydney Shiver, who netted 11 points.

Plainview vs.
Mamou (girls)
The Mamou Lady Demons took on the Plainview Lady Hornets in the girls’ bracket night game. Mamou was out scored in the first three quarters in a 63-53 loss to Plainview. With the defeat, the Lady Demons were eliminated from the tournament.
The Lady Hornets gained the upper hand in the first quarter, outpacing Mamou 16-11. A seven point second quarter by the Lady Demons, coupled with 11 points by Plainview, made the half time score 27-18.
Mamou could not make up any ground in the third quarter after being out scored 20-15 by the Lady Hornets. The Lady Demons were only able to match the 20 points netted by Plainview in the fourth quarter, which was not enough to overcome the deficit.
Dezzy Bellard rattled in 22 points, while Arkie Thomas added 14 points in the losing effort for Mamou.

Mamou vs.
Sacred Heart (boys)
The first boys’ game of the afternoon saw the Mamou Demons clash with the Sacred Heart Trojans. A fourth quarter run by Sacred Heart fell just short, as Mamou held on for the 53-52 win. The Trojans were eliminated with the loss, while the Demons moved on to the consolation bracket semi-finals on Saturday.
Mamou took a first quarter lead, outpacing Sacred Heart 20-12. Both squads added 11 points each in the second quarter, keeping the Demons on top 31-23 as the first half came to a close.
The third quarter saw Mamou out score Sacred Heart 11-8 to extend their lead to 42-31. The Trojans made a strong push in the final period, out gaining the Demons 21-11. However, Mamou held off Sacred Heart to claim the victory.
Mamou was led by Lil Paul Williams, who scored 15 points. Nathaniel Holland tacked on 11 points for the Demons. Mikey Laughlin netted 16 points for the Trojans, while Sean Fontenot chipped in 13 points.

Oakdale vs.
Pine Prairie (boys)
The final game on Friday was a battle between the Oakdale Warriors and the Pine Prairie Panthers. Pine Prairie used a smothering defense to move out to an 11 point advantage in the first half and never looked back in a 56-40 win. The Panthers move on to the championship game on Saturday, while Oakdale was eliminated with the loss.
The first quarter was all Pine Prairie, as they took the 14-4 lead. The second quarter saw the Warriors try to make a game of it by scoring 14 points. However, the Panthers scored 15 points to extend their lead to 29-18 as the first half came to a close.
The second half proved that it was Pine Prairie’s game to win, as the Panthers out scored the Warriors 27-22 to slam the door shut on Oakdale.
Four Panthers scored in double digits, as Josh Freeman led the way with 14 points. Vontrevis Thomas added 12 points for Pine Prairie, while Allen Myles and Sylus Carson chipped in 10 points apiece.