SM opens 5-4A campaign with wins over BB, TCHS

The St. Martinville Tigers got off to a quick start in the 2008 District 5-4A basketball race, knocking off Breaux Bridge and Teurlings Catholic in the first week of league action.

Coach Darrel Mitchell’s Tigers held off a gritty Breaux Bridge team, 58-49, in a game played Jan. 2, and then outdefensed the Teurlings Rebels at home on Friday in breezing to a 43-28 win.

With the back-to-back victories The ’Ville improved to 14-9 overall and is perfect at 2-0 in district play.

Breaux Bridge appears headed in the opposite direction, falling hard to Opelousas (68-32) on Friday to drop to 4-13 for the season and 0-2 against league foes.

There were no reports on Cecilia’s non-district game against Eunice last week.

SMSH 58, BBHS 49

Breaux Bridge managed to keep it close through three quarters of play, trailing by only three points at intermission and going into the final stanza. But St. Martinville prevailed down the stretch, outscoring their hosts 23-18 during the final eight minutes to win going away.

Terence Bonhomme led a trio of SM Tigers into the double figures with 12 points, while Lance Charles and Tajerin Butler contributed 10 apiece.

Louis Howard was BB’s only double figure scorer with 15 points.

SMSH 43, Teurlings 28

The Teurlings Catholic Rebels brought a 13-8 record to The ’Ville last Friday and tried to slow things down a bit against the speedy Tigers.

The strategy worked during much of the first half, with the Rebels building an 8-4 first quarter lead. But SM made some adjustments and rallied to a 13-10 halftime advantage. The second half belonged to The ’Ville, with SM outscoring Teurlings 14-8 and 16-10 in the third and fourth periods for an easy win.

Lance Charles led all scorers with 14 points.

Up Next

District action continues Friday for SM and BB, with The ’Ville hosting Beau Chene and The Bridge taking on Abbeville at home. Cecilia will also be at home, with the Bulldogs wrapping up their non-district schedule against Jennings.

On Tuesday, Jan. 15, St. Martinville will again be at home against Opelouas while Breaux Bridge hosts Beau Chene. Cecilia opens its 6-3A campaign on the road against Kaplan.