Biting back

In an effort to continue collecting power points for the playoffs, both the Ville Platte High Bulldogs and the Lady Bulldogs traveled down Highway 190 to take on the Kinder Yellow Jackets and the Lady Jackets.
Unfortunately for the Lady Bulldogs, the sting from the Lady Jackets was too lethal, as they fell 59-44 to the Lady Jackets. With the loss, Ville Platte drops to 6-11 on the year and 0-2 in district play.
The Bulldogs did not allow the same fate to happen to them as they bit back hard on the Jackets, taking a resounding 92-58 win. Ville Platte moves to 18-1 on the year and 2-0 in district play.
Both the Bulldogs and the Lady Bulldogs will host Notre Dame Tuesday night.
In the opening game of the double header, the Lady Bulldogs came out very flat on the offensive side of the floor. With a run and gun mentality, the Lady Jackets took a 2-2 tie after the first 40 seconds of play and turned it into a 19-2 lead after one quarter of play.
The game remained one-sided throughout the second period, as Ville Platte’s second bucket of the night came with 6:12 to go in the quarter. The Lady Bulldogs were unable to score again until the 2:20 mark and went into the locker room trailing Kinder 37-9.
Ville Platte opened the third quarter with a bucket from Shayla Hickerson. However, the Lady Jackets scored the next 10 points to open up a 47-11 lead. The Lady Bulldogs picked up the last six points of the quarter to dampen the lead a tad.
With the game in hand, Kinder emptied their bench, as did Ville Platte. In the quarter, Vandraya Wilson hit a trio of three point baskets for the Lady Bulldogs to help close the gap to 15.
Wilson led Ville Platte with 19 points. Brooklyn Fontenot scored 14 points to lead Kinder.
The boys’ game was a total opposite of the previous game. Ville Platte’s quickness on the defensive side of the floor showed quickly, as they came up with a number of steals from their full court trapping press for easy baskets to begin the game.
Kinder gained an 3-2 lead only 47 seconds into the game, but that lead did not last long. From that point on, the Bulldogs ran off 18 points in a row before the Yellow Jackets could put up another score. By the time the first quarter came to a close, Ville Platte held a 26-8 lead.
The Bulldogs switched out their starters in the second quarter which allowed Kinder to gather themselves on both sides of the floor. Ville Platte gained some ground in the first part of the period, going up 36-10 with 3:09 left to go before half.
The Yellow Jackets climbed back into the game somewhat toward the end of the quarter. Kinder picked up 10 of the last 12 points in the period to trail 38-20 as the teams headed into the locker room.
Ville Platte began the third quarter with four quick points. Never-the-less, the Yellow Jackets seemed to find some new energy and reeled off nine in a row to make it a 42-27 game with 5:28 left in the period.
Undaunted by the push from Kinder, the Bulldogs answered back, pushing the lead up to 19 points, 59-30, over the next 4:30. Then just like a light switch being turned on, Ville Platte stepped up the defensive pressure once again and blew the game wide open with a 12-2 run over the final 1:42 seconds of the quarter.
From that point on, it was bench time, as the Bulldogs got their younger players involved in the game once more. Ville Platte iced the game with a 24-21 advantage in the final quarter.
Tyler Jones led the Bulldogs with 26 points, while Terrian Roy chipped in 17 points and Jahmal Byers added 13 points.
Kinder was led by Dylan McSwain who knocked down 19 points.