Turning the tide

MAMOU -- The Pine Prairie Lady Panthers took home another district win Friday night when they took down the Mamou Lady Demons 37-23 to sweep the season series and improve their overall record to 18-10 and their district record to 7-5.
The Lady Demons dropped to 8-17 on the year and 3-9 in league play with the loss.
However, the Mamou Demons turned the tide on Pine Prairie with a hard fought 63-53 win over the Panthers. It was the first time Mamou defeated Pine Prairie in four attempts this season.
With the win, the Demons improved to 10-19 on the season and 3-7 in District 5-3A. Meanwhile, the Panthers fell to 15-6 on the year and 6-4 in district play.
Both Mamou teams will travel to Crowley tomorrow, while the two Pine Prairie squads host Eunice on that same day.
In the girls’ contest, the Lady Panthers utilized some great defensive hustle to open up an 11-4 lead on the Lady Demons. Mamou responded at the start of the second quarter by picking up the first three points.
From that point on it was all Pine Prairie until the very last bucket. Over a span of 3:20, the Lady Panthers reeled off 10 straight point to take a 21-7 lead.
Mamou scored the final points of the half on a basket by Tirane Thomas. Nevertheless, the Lady Panthers took a 12 point lead into the locker room.
The third quarter began almost exactly how the second quarter began, with the Lady Demons knocking down the first basket of the period. And, once again, Pine Prairie went on a tear, scoring 10 straight points to lead 31-11 with 2:13 to go in the quarter.
Mamou rallied in the final minutes of the period, hitting on a two-point shot in the lane and two free throws to cut the advantage down to 16 heading into the final quarter.
The two teams could not executed at the line to open the fourth period, keeping the score in tact. However, the Lady Panthers got two baskets from Asia George to go up 35-15 with 6:06 remaining in the game.
Down the stretch the Lady Demons picked up the pace on offense out scoring Pine Prairie 8-2, but it was too little too late for Mamou’s comeback attempt.
Kameron Allen led the way for the Lady Panthers with 14 points, while George pitched in 10 points. Dacia Richard picked up six points to lead Mamou.
The boys’ game turned out to be a little more exciting. Mamou came out with tons of pressure on the defensive side of the floor, trapping and pressing their way to a 12-3 lead over the first 3:10 of the opening quarter.
Pine Prairie clawed their way back into the game, scoring on the next three possessions down the floor to cut the lead to 12-9. Undeterred, the Demons created several turnovers with that same pressure and finished the period on a 6-2 run, making it an 18-11 game in favor of the Demons.
The Panthers found some momentum in the second quarter. After a made free throw from Pine Prairie and a two-point bucket from Mamou, the Panthers were able to collect themselves offensively enough to score the next nine points and take the lead, 21-20, for the first time in the game.
The Demons reclaimed the lead with 2:01 to go before half when Tyrin Williams completed a three-point play with a made free throw. Still, the Panthers were not done scoring in the quarter, as Isaiah Payne and Raylin Thomas hit on three-point shots in the last minute of the quarter. Those shots sandwiched a bucket from Mamou’s Kyrin Green to put the score at 27-25 in favor of Pine Prairie as the teams headed into the locker room.
The game remained close throughout the first 2:30 of the third quarter, as the Panthers held their biggest lead of the night, 36-32, with 5:30 left in the period. Despite trailing by four points, the Demons did not fold. Mamou finished the quarter with a vengeance, collecting the final seven points in the period to take over the lead once again, 39-36.
Pine Prairie’s JJ Sims hit the first basket of the fourth quarter to cut the Demon lead back down to one point. But, the tenacity of Mamou on both offense and defense allowed the Demons to pick up five straight points and open up a 44-38 lead with 6:39 to go in the contest.
The Panthers responded with back-to-back buckets by Sims and Kyler Carson to make it a 44-42 game. However, Mamou continued to extend their lead throughout the remaining five minutes of the game, knocking down shot after shot and hitting free throws late in the game when Pine Prairie was forced to foul.
Leandre Harrison led the way for Mamou with 24 points, while Mason Tinley added 17 points.
Payne picked up 20 points to lead the Panthers.