Vexing the Vikings

VILLE PLATTE -- Maybe the Sacred Heart Trojans and the Lady Trojans need to play doubleheader games more often.
The two squads had not played on the same night in over 20 days and had not taken both games of a twin bill since November 17.
However, that changed here tonight, as the Lady Trojans blew past the Opelousas Catholic Lady Vikings 50-21 and the Trojans pulled out a thrilling 53-46 overtime win over the Opelousas Catholic Vikings for only their second win of the season.
In the opening game, the Lady Trojans and the Lady Vikings both came out very sluggish on offense, as neither team could get on the scoreboard until the 5:48 mark of the first quarter.
Opelousas Catholic drew first blood, knocking down a free throw and a jump shot to take a 3-0 lead.
Sacred Heart answered with an 8-0 run. The Lady Vikings closed out the period with a lay-up to make the score 8-5 at the end of one quarter of play.
The second quarter was just as tight as the previous one. The two teams traded baskets throughout the period, with the Lady Trojans gaining only an 11-8 advantage in the quarter to take a 19-13 lead into half time.
As the teams came out of the locker room, Sacred Heart began to utilize their speed and a full court press to create several turnovers.
Offensively, the Lady Trojans took advantage of the Lady Viking miscues and outscored Opelousas Catholic 19-1 in the period.
From that point on, the Lady Trojans put it in cruise control, emptying the bench, bringing home the win.
Sydney Shiver netted a game high 15 points for Sacred Heart, while Erin Fontenot added 11 points and Catherine Poche’ chipped in 10 points.
The Lady Trojans are now 11-12 on the year and 4-2 in district play. Sacred Heart will next host David Thibodaux on Tuesday.
In the nightcap, the Trojans and Vikings went toe-to-toe the entire game. Like the girl’s game, Opelousas Catholic began by hitting the first three points of the contest.
And, like the girl’s game, Sacred Heart answered back taking a 6-3 lead with 4:51 left to go in the quarter.
The teams would exchange baskets the rest of the period, with the Trojans scoring seven of the last 10 points in the quarter to own a 19-14 lead.
Sacred Heart extended that margin to nine, 25-16, at the 3:07 mark of the second quarter.
However, Opelousas Catholic got back into the game after reeling off seven unanswered points, and closing the gap to two points as the first half came to an end.
Sacred Heart came out in the third quarter and regained a seven-point margin, 33-26, with only 2:40 left in the period.
But, once again, the Vikings responded, knocking down seven of the final 10 points in the quarter to cut the Trojan lead to 38-35 as the horn sounded to end the third period.
Sacred Heart tried to let things slip away in the final period. After hitting the first basket of the quarter, the Trojans allowed the Vikings to take a one point lead, 43-40 with 2:54 to go in the period.
Sacred Heart was able to climb back into the game and take back the lead, 44-43, with just two minutes left to go.
Opelousas Catholic hit a free throw with 55 seconds left on the clock to tie the game up at 44-44.
However, neither team could add another basket in the final seconds of the game, sending the game into an extra period.
The overtime period boiled down to free throws. Opelousas Catholic was unable to connect on two trips to the charity stripe in the first two minutes of the extra stanza. Meanwhile, Sacred Heart hit three huge baskets in that same time frame to open up a six-point advantage.
The Vikings did manage to get a bucket with 44 seconds left in the game to cut the Trojan lead down to four, 50-46. But, it was the clutch free throw shooting of Sacred Heart in the final minute that sealed the win.
Senior Trojan forward Jacques Fontenot netted 23 points to lead all scorers. Jeffery Sylvester added seven points.
With the win Sacred Heart improves to 2-16 on the season and 1-1 in District 5-2A.