Claw marks

Ville Platte suffers first district loss at Lake Arthur
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LAKE ARTHUR -- The No. 2 ranked Ville Platte Bulldogs hit the road Friday night against the No. 5 ranked Lake Arthur Tigers in hopes of keeping their undefeated district season alive.
However, it was not to be as the Tigers were able to claw into the Bulldog’s perfect league record with a 78-70 win. The loss by Ville Platte creates a tie for first place in District 6-2A with themselves and Lake Arthur, as both teams now hold 4-1 records.
The Bulldog’s overall record now stands at 20-2. Ville Platte will host Kinder Tuesday night in a district contest.
Lake Arthur began the game with a basket to take a quick 2-0 lead; a lead that they would hold most of the night. Ville Platte answered thirty seconds later to tie the game up.
That tie did not last long, as the Tigers reeled off five points in a row before the Bulldogs could get another bucket. A three-point basket from Lake Arthur was followed by two made free throws by the Bulldogs’ Terrian Roy making it a 10-7 game.
Utilizing their running game, the Tigers scored the next six points to take a nine point lead with 1:32 to go in the first quarter. Ville Platte got four more points from the charity stripe over the next 1:12 to cut the Lake Arthur lead down to five.
With two second left in the period, the Tigers knocked down another shot to own an 18-11 lead as the opening quarter came to a close.
The Bulldogs cut the Lake Arthur advantage down to two points when Jahmal Byers hit a two-point shot and Tyler Jones knocked down a shot from beyond the arc. The two teams caught fire on offense during the next 3:19, as the clubs exchanged baskets, including two three-pointers each, to make it a 25-24 game in favor of the Tigers.
As the clock ticked down in the quarter, the game remained within two points, 30-28, until the 3:19 mark. At that point, Lake Arthur slowly pulled away, scoring 13 of the final 17 points of the period, including a desperation three-point half court shot at the buzzer to give the Tigers a 43-32 lead heading into the locker room.
Coming out to start the third quarter, Roy scorched the net for two more three-point shots. Never-the-less, Lake Arthur stayed in control with a couple of two point baskets of their own.
With the score sitting at 45-38 in favor of the Tigers and 5:52 showing on the clock, Lake Arthur gradually swelled their lead to 13 points, 53-40, by making an 8-2 run over the next three minutes.
The closest Ville Platte could get in the period was 12 points, 57-45, when Byers hit both shots in a one-and-one situation with 15 seconds to go in the quarter.
Sensing the need for urgency, the Bulldogs picked up the intensity on the defensive side of the floor and translated it into points, cutting the Tiger lead down to four points, 59-55, in the first 3:12 of the final period. But, before Ville Platte could blink, Lake Arthur had increased that lead back to 10 points in just 30 seconds.
Down the stretch it seemed that every time the Bulldogs would gain momentum, the Tigers came up with a big play.
From the 4:37 mark to the end of the game, Lake Arthur responded to every Ville Platte threat. The Bulldogs could not manage to make a significant run at the Tigers, as the best Ville Platte could do was get the score down to seven points with 1:05 left in the contest.
One of the deciding factors in the game was the woeful shooting at the charity stripe for the Bulldogs in the second half. Despite going six for seven in the first two quarters from the line, Ville Platte shot 11 for 22 in the final two periods.
Byers ended the game with 18 points to lead the Bulldogs in scoring. Tye’ Wuan Byers added 15 points, while Roy chipped in 13 points for Ville Platte in the loss.