Sacred Heart tipped off play this week with a lopsided defeat, but the Trojans rebounded nicely the following night with a convincing victory.
"To be honest, this team has gone through the ringer this year," Sacred Heart boys coach JP Bouillion said. "We have had to deal with COVID and then we lost a freshman student here to begin the calendar year. So they have been dealing with that. We have a tough team. They really showed that grit this week."
The week began with a 72-52 loss at home to Opelousas Catholic on Tuesday.
The visiting Vikings set the tone early with an 8-0 run to start the game. The Trojans managed to come back and tie the game and then keep pace for a few quarters.
"We had too many live-ball turnovers that were unforced, especially early on," Bouillion said. "I was much more pleased with our effort on Tuesday than the first time around."
In the first district meeting on Jan. 8, OC's Keon Coleman scored 63 points in the Vikings' 94-60 win over the Trojans. This time around, Bouillion game planned to have the Michigan State signee double-teamed.
That approached only slightly slowed down Coleman who still led all scorers with 30 points, including 19 in the second half.
"He dropped 63 on us the first time and we 60 as an entire team," Bouillion said. "The goal was to hold him to 20 points and 7 rebounds and we were able to limit him to 30 and 6. Much better but not enough."
Chase Tate led Sacred Heart with 12 points while Austin Darbonne added 11.
Sacred Heart bounced back the following night -- which was Senior Night for the Trojans -- with a 64-49 win over Westminster Christian Academy.
WCA led 15-14 after the first quarter but Sacred Heart took control from the second quarter on as the Trojans outscored the Crusaders 50-34 in the final three periods.
"Westminster is a tough team to defend," Bouillion said. "To hold them under 50 is really saying something."
Sacred Heart continued to get solid play from its bench as Sam Fontenot came into the game and drained four three-pointers in the win.
"Sam coming off the bench has provided us a spark," Bouillion said. "He has provided a perimeter threat that we haven't had. We have struggled from the three-point line but he has given us a lift recently."
Sacred Heart had four players score in double figures in the victory. In addition to Fontenot's 12 points, Austin Darbonne led the team with 17, Chase Tate added 11 and Bryce Deville scored 10.
OPELOUSAS
CATHOLIC 32,
SACRED HEART
25
The Sacred Heart girls basketball team dropped its second straight District 4-1A game on Tuesday.
The two teams were tied 8-8 heading into the second quarter but that is when the Lady Vikings took control as OC outscored Sacred Heart 14-5.
Sacred Heart kept pace in the second half by actually outscoring OC 12-10 in the final two quarters but it wasn't enough to pull out the win.
Jodie Landry led Sacred Heart with 12 points.