Twice as nice

Sacred Heart boys and girls take down False River
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VILLE PLATTE -- The feeling was twice as nice Tuesday night in the “Land of Troy”, as the Sacred Heart Trojans and Lady Trojans were able to double up False River Academy in key wins for both squads.
In girl’s action, the Lady Trojans held off a late fourth quarter rally by the Lady Gators to pick up a 50-42 victory. With the win, Sacred Heart improves to 7-16 overall and 4-5 in district play.
Meanwhile, the Trojans took full control over the Gators in the nightcap and cruised to a 56-34 win. Sacred Heart improves to 8-17 on the year and 4-5 in league play.
Both the Trojans and the Lady Trojans will host Catholic of Pointe Coupee tomorrow night.
Little did Sacred Heart know, but the first quarter of the girl’s contest turned out to be the difference in the game. After falling behind 1-0 in the first 20 seconds of the game, the Lady Trojans were able to create pressure turnovers and turn them into buckets as they reeled off the next nine points in a row.
False River managed to cut the score down to 11-8 over the next 3:35. Back-to-back baskets by Sacred Heart’s Lauren Shipp and Blaire Lafleur in the final 1:46 of the period allowed the Lady Trojans to raise their lead back to seven, 15-8, as the first quarter came to a close.
Sacred Heart began the second quarter with another bucket from Lafleur. However, False River’s Lexi Sellars ripped the nets from beyond the arc on the next two possessions to cut the Lady Trojan lead down to 17-14 with 5:02 to go in the period.
The two teams exchanged baskets over the next four minutes with Sacred Heart’s lead never getting to more than seven points. With 1:04 to go in the half, the Lady Gators axed the Lady Trojan lead back down to four, 23-19.
The Lady Trojans finished out the quarter hitting on two shots to make it a 27-19 game heading into the locker room.
Sacred Heart slowly built their advantage up to 13 points, 33-20, during the first four minutes of the third quarter. But, missed opportunities at the charity stripe by the Lady Trojans allowed False River to cut that edge down to eight, 37-29, in the final four minutes of the period.
The final quarter turned out to be a free throw fest, with the two teams combining to shoot 26 foul shots in the period. Fortunately, Sacred Heart had the hotter hand at the charity stripe, hitting on seven of 10 free throws, while the Lady Gators were only capable of making seven of 16 at the line.
That, coupled with some timely baskets from the Lady Trojans, allowed Sacred Heart to keep False River at bay and take the eight point win.
Shipp led the way for the Lady Trojans with 16 points.
In the boy’s game, Sacred Heart set the tone early on, scoring the first 12 points of the game by utilizing a tough, aggressive defense and a take it to the rim mentality on offense. False River’s first points of the opening quarter did not occur until four full minutes had gone by.
The Trojans mounted a nine point run over the final four minutes of the period to own a 21-2 lead after one quarter of play.
The second quarter saw more of the same from Sacred Heart. After an initial basket from the Gators to start the period, the Trojans put together a 16-6 effort over a 4:36 span to take a 37-10 lead. The final points of the period came with 21 seconds to go, as Sacred Heart’s Evan Veillon knocked down a basket to increase the Trojan advantage to 29 points heading into the locker room.
Even with Sacred Heart emptying their bench in the third quarter, the Trojans remained in command of the game. Sacred Heart dominated the period, picking up 16 more points and held False River to a meager seven points.
By the time the fourth quarter began, all of the Trojan players had seen some time on the floor. Because of the substantial lead Sacred Heart held, the clock ran continuously throughout the final period.
The Gators did manage to get something going in the fourth quarter, doubling their point total from the previous three quarters. Sacred Heart’s lone point in the period came on a made free throw.
Wyatt Fontenot led all Trojan scorers with 13 points.