Mamou seals VPHS district fate; Northwest crowned 4-3A champs

By: RHETT MANUEL Sports Editor PRAIRIE RONDE — After a resilient 71-70 win over the Ville Platte Bulldogs on Monday night, the Northwest Raiders clinched the District 4-3A district crown in a hard-fought 73-66 win over the Mamou Green Demons on Wednesday night. Northwest (16-13, 6-0) found its stride at the right time on its way to the district title. The Raiders won seven of its final eight games, its lone loss coming in a road matchup against Breaux Bridge. In dispatching Mamou, Northwest played its best ball at the beginning and end of the contest. The Raiders outscored the Green Demons 24-15 in the opening quarter and finished strong in outpacing them 21-11 in the final frame. The fourth period was especially crucial, with Mamou entering the final quarter holding on to a three-point advantage, 55-52. Northwest, though, turned up the defensive intensity in limiting Mamou in the final quarter. Mamou’s prolific trio of Tyrian Broussard, Dezmond Skinner and Tylon Quincy combined for all but 13 of Mamou’s 66 points on Wednesday. However Northwest limited Skinner, Mamou’s best shooter, to a scoreless fourth period and forced the entire load on to the shoulders of Broussard and Quincy. While both very good players, Northwest used its advantage to dominate the paint in the final quarter. All of its 21 fourth quarter points came from either inside the arc or the charity stripe, where the Raiders hit 5-of-7 free throws in the final quarter for crucial insurance points. When Mamou dominated the second and third quarters, it was behind a big second quarter from Broussard and tremendous three-point shooting in the third. Broussard put up 10 of his 25 points, including a three-pointer, in the second quarter as Mamou outscored Northwest by an 18-11 margin to go down only two points heading into the half, 35-33. Skinner came alive out of the break, hitting three 3-point baskets on his way to putting up 11 of his 15 points in the quarter. Quincy added a three himself to spearhead Mamou’s advantage heading into the final quarter. Despite its loss to close the regular season, Mamou looks to be securely in the postseason according to GeauxPreps.com’s unofficial power ratings. As of press time, the website had Mamou as the No. 19-seed in Division III’s non-select bracket. Were that to hold, Mamou would make an opening round trip to Mansfield.