Down and out

The poor start was too much to overcome.
Ville Platte High struggled out the gate and spotted visiting St. Martinville an 11-2 lead after the first quarter of Tuesday night's playoff game. The Bulldogs would perform far better against the Tigers in the next three quarters but could never overcome that first-quarter deficit.
No. 6 Ville Platte fell to No. 11 St. Martinville, 55-41, in Tuesday's Class 3A second-round playoff game.
"It seems like we were a little nervous," Ville Platte first-year head coach Launey Coward said. "We had to get the jitters out. We tried to make adjustments and calm down and get back in the game. That first quarter though put us in a bad spot."
St. Martinville (21-9) jumped out to an early lead by utilizing their size.
Tigers forward Davontre Alexander scored six points in the opening quarter, including draining a pair of free throws, while Harvey Broussard had a pair of blocked shots as the Bulldogs had no answer for the Tigers play in the paint.
"We didn't have open shots because they were coming up and blocking them," Coward said. "Our boys started changing their shots because they couldn't get open."
Ville Platte (19-6) rallied back in the second quarter.
Tye'Wuan Byers led off the quarter with a corner three-pointer but St. Martinville responded as Datayvious Gabriel drained a second-chance three-pointer.
A few minutes later, the Bulldogs cut the lead down to 19-14 after Ernest Roberts hit a contested three-pointer.
St. Martinville would close out the half with a 8-0 run and held a 27-14 lead at the break.
"That kind of blew our tires out a bit," Coward said. "We had fought back and thought we had them. We thought we were going to finish strong but we just fell flat there."
Ville Platte would continue to play better in the second half as the Bulldogs were only outscored by one point in the final two quarters.
It wasn't enough to not be eliminated from the postseason.
Ville Platte had three players score in double figures with Byers and Roberts both scoring 12 points, while Montevius Serialle added 10.
St. Martinville was paced by Datayvious Gabriel who had a game-high 19 points.
Despite coming up short, Coward was still pleased with his team's no-quit attitude in the game.
"I was so proud of our effort," Coward said. "We never gave up. They guys didn't hang their heads and they kept fighting."
That is exactly what the Bulldogs did in their opening-round win on Friday.
After building up a 34-24 lead at halftime against No. 27 Brusly, Ville Platte saw its lead dwindle down to three points heading into the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs closed out the game strong and picked up a 77-61 victory.
"We kind of let them back in the game there and then we got a little frustrated with some calls," Coward said. "I told them not to worry about the referees and they started getting back into their game."
Ville Platte settled down and got back into a rhythm in the final quarter, outscoring Brusly 23-15.
"We just played our game," Coward said. "We got our looks and made our shots. My eighth grader (Serialle) scored 19 points. I think we were a little bigger than them and that helped us."
Serialle led the way with 19 points while Tauy Roy added 18 and Roberts chipped in 16.
The season would come to an end sooner than Coward or the Bulldogs wanted with Tuesday's second-round defeat but the first-year coach is thankful for the season.
"For me being a first time head coach I didn't know what to expect," Coward said. "Everyday you just hope no one gets COVID-19. It was like a roller coaster ride for me but it was a blessing."