Double dipping

PINE PRAIRIE -- The Pine Prairie Panthers and Lady Panthers secured huge district wins Tuesday night as they doubled up the Mamou Demons and Lady Demons in a battle of inter-parish rivals.
In the girl’s contest, the Lady Panthers leapt out to a decisive first quarter lead and never looked back, as they downed the Lady Demons 49-24.
Pine Prairie improves to 15-7 on the year and 2-2 in district play with the win.
The Lady Demons fall to 6-11 on the season and 1-3 in league play with the loss.
In the boy’s game, the Panthers overcame a slow offensive start and held off a hard charging Demons squad in the fourth quarter to pick up a 57-43 win.
With the victory, Pine Prairie moves to 12-2 on the year and 3-0 in District 5-3A.
Mamou drops to 7-14 on the season and 0-3 in district competition with the loss.
Both Pine Prairie squads will be on the road at Eunice Friday night, while the two Mamou teams will host Crowley that same night.
The night began with the Lady Demons taking a quick 3-0 lead over the Lady Panthers on a Christy Giddens basket from beyond the arc to open the first quarter of play. Pine Prairie did not flinch, running off nine unanswered points over the next two minutes.
A two point basket by Mamou’s Dacia Richard cut the advantage back down to four. However, Pine Prairie reeled off seven more points, mostly from the free throw line, to take a 16-5 lead as the period came to an end.
Both teams found the scoring tough in the second quarter. Pine Prairie’s Kameron Allen knocked down a bucket two minutes into the period to put the Lady Panthers up 18-5.
Following two Richard free throws, Allen hit a three-point basket and another two point shot to extend the Pine Prairie advantage to 16 points. With 1:13 left in the half, Mamou’s Markaysha Johnson scored the final point of the quarter on a shot from the charity stripe, thus giving the Lady Panthers a 23-8 lead heading into the locker room.
Pine Prairie began the third quarter with four straight points, all out of the hand of Asia George. Not to be outdone, Mamou’s Brianna Thibodaux matched those four points by herself to counteract the fast start by the Lady Panthers.
The teams exchanged baskets over the next three minutes. Pine Prairie extended their lead to 34-14 on back-to-back buckets from Allen and center Brianna Wall. But, Thibodaux brought the Lady Demons back to within 15 points as she hit on a three-point shot and a two point basket toward the end of the period.
That 15 point lead remained over the first 2:41 seconds of the final quarter, as the two squads matched each other point for point. Starting at the 4:55 mark of the period, the Lady Panthers utilized their quickness to create several turnovers that led to a 10-0 run and a win over the Lady Demons.
Allen led all scorers with 29 points, while Thibodaux paced Mamou with 11 points.
In the nightcap, both the Panthers and the Demons came out sluggish on the offensive side of the court. With only 44 seconds gone in the first quarter, Pine Prairie led 4-2.
The next basket from either side did not come until the 1:01 mark of the period when the Panther’s Isaiah Payne hit a lay up to give Pine Prairie a four point advantage. However, 50 seconds later Mamou responded with four straight points to tie the game at 6-6.
As the final 11 seconds ran off the clock, it did not seem that neither team would get another basket. But, with only one second left, Pine Prairie’s JJ Sims put back a shot that fell through the net giving the Panthers a two point edge heading into the second quarter.
Mamou’s Mason Tinley stroked a shot from beyond the arc 12 seconds into the ensuing period to put the Demons up for the first time in the game. The game remained a one point contest over the next 3:10 as the teams responded to each other’s made shots.
With 4:37 left to go in the half and Pine Prairie leading 14-13, the Panthers scored seven unanswered points to begin pulling away from Mamou. The Demon’s Leandre Harrison knocked down two free throws to stop the slide, however, Pine Prairie netted another seven points in a row to go up 27-15 with 1:10 left in the period.
Tinley finished out the quarter with a free throw and another three point bucket to cut the Panther lead down to eight, 27-19, as the half came to an end.
Pine Prairie cranked up the pressure both offensively and defensively to begin the third quarter. By the 4:34 mark, the Panthers owned a 38-21 lead. Mamou played Pine Prairie pretty much even over the final minutes of the period, as they found themselves trailing by 18 points, 43-25, when the horn sounded to end the quarter.
Sensing a need to try and fight their way back into the game, the Demons came out in the final period with a ton more energy. An 18 point deficit became a ten point deficit over the first 2:20 of the period, as Mamou turned up the heat defensively.
But, in the end, the Demons could not get any closer than that, as the Panthers found a way to stave off the Mamou run.
Payne and Sims led the Panthers with 22 points each. Tinley and Harrison each scored 13 points for the Demons.