CHURCH POINT -- Both the Ville Platte High Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs came into Thursday night’s road game in Church Point hoping to pick up wins in order to gain more power points toward their playoff seed.
It was especially important to the Lady Bulldogs to come away with a win because this was the last game in the regular season; there would be no more opportunity to increase their position before the brackets are announced tomorrow.
Unfortunately, Ville Platte was unable to hold onto five point halftime lead, falling 45-42 in overtime to the Lady Bears. With the loss, the Lady Bulldogs drop to 14-15 overall and 4-6 in District 5-3A play.
For the Bulldogs, a win would most certainly improve their overall ranking in Class 3A before they headed into the final week of the season beginning tomorrow. With that understanding, Ville Platte took it right to the Bears and came away with a resounding 73-40 win.
Ville Platte improves to 22-10 overall and 7-1 in league competition. The Bulldogs will play for the chance to create a two-way tie for the district crown when they face league leader Northwest on Friday.
Here is a rundown of the two games played Thursday.
Ville Platte (G)
vs. Church Point
Both Ville Platte and Church Point had tough times getting on the board in the early going, as the score stood at 5-4 in favor of the Lady Bulldogs halfway through the first quarter.
The two teams exchanged baskets over the course of the next 2:30, as Ville Platte maintained a one point lead, 9-8, with a little over a minute and a half to go in the period.
Trinity Leday collected four points in the waning seconds of the quarter to give the Lady Bulldogs a 13-8 advantage as the horn sounded to end the opening quarter.
Leday continued the hot streak to begin the second quarter, hitting a three-point basket within the first nine seconds of the period to put Ville Platte up by eight. However, the Lady Bears were able to step it up defensively and pressure the Lady Bulldogs into some unforced errors.
By the time Ville Platte had a chance to take a breath, Church Point had tied the game up at 16-16 with just over four minutes left in the first half.
The teams continued to battle over the next two minutes. With the score at 19-16 in favor of Ville Platte and 2:06 left in the period, the Lady Bulldogs got back into the groove offensively.
With some timely possessions, Ville Platte took control, scoring five of the final eight points of the half, to own a 24-19 lead as the teams headed into the locker room.
It looked as if the Lady Bulldogs were ready to take control of the game in the third quarter as they scored the first two points to increase their lead to seven. But, Church Point had other plans.
The Lady Bears slowly chipped away at the Ville Platte lead for the rest of the period, cutting the score to 30-28 as the game entered the final quarter of play.
The game see-sawed back and forth in the fourth period. Over a span of 2:20, the lead changed hands on five separate occasions.
Ville Platte took the lead back, 40-39, with 1:30 showing on the clock. The Lady Bears tied the game back up at 40-40 on a single free throw with 1:07 left in regulation.
The Lady Bulldogs held the ball out with their last possession, trying to hit the game winner with little or no time left on the clock. However, Ville Platte came up short, sending the contest into an extra period.
In overtime, Church Point took control, stymieing the Lady Bulldog offense down the stretch and putting up enough points to seal the win.
Leday led the way for Ville Platte with 18 points, while Kaydan Coward chipped in 10 points in the losing effort.
Ville Platte (B)
vs. Church Point
It was slow going for Ville Platte on the offensive side of the floor to start the game. The Bulldogs did not score their first points until the 5:37 mark of the opening quarter.
That shot, a three-point basket from Tyler Jones, gave Ville Platte a 3-2 lead over Church Point and also burst the flood gates wide open in terms of scoring. After that shot scorched through the net, the Bulldogs ran off 18 of the next 20 points, including a trio of three-point buckets, to own a 21-4 lead heading into the second period.
Ville Platte’s hot hands did not cool down much to begin the ensuing period. The first three baskets the Bulldogs scored in the quarter were all of the three-point variety, with Jahmal Byers knocking down two of those shots from beyond the arc.
The Bears were able to gather themselves enough to get things going offensively. By the 1:08 mark of the period, Church Point had cut the Ville Platte lead down to a 19 point advantage, 36-17.
The Bears finished the half with another basket and went into halftime trailing the Bulldogs by 17 points.
The third quarter was all about Ville Platte’s ability to methodically pull away from Church Point. As the horn sounded to end the period, the Bulldogs had opened up a 57-32 lead and never looked back from there.
In the final quarter, the Bulldogs continued to increase their advantage, even with the bench players getting the majority of the time on the floor.
Terrian Roy had 22 points to lead Ville Platte, while Byers collected 14 points in the win.