OPELOUSAS -- Despite losing both district contests on the road Tuesday night, the Sacred Heart basketball teams fought like true Trojans, giving the Opelousas Catholic hard court squads all they could handle.
In the opening contest of the league doubleheader, the Lady Trojans overtook the Lady Vikings by one point in the fourth quarter, but could not sustain that lead as they fell 35-32.
With the loss, Sacred Heart drops to 11-14 on the year and 2-2 in District 5-1A. The Lady Trojans will host North Central tomorrow night.
In the boy’s game, Sacred Heart battled their tails off in the first half of play to only trail by five, however the athleticism of Opelousas Catholic led them to a dominant second half and a 77-34 win over the Trojans.
Sacred Heart falls to 5-21 on the season and 0-4 in league competition. The Trojans host North Central tomorrow night as well.
Here is a recap of the two games played.
Sacred Heart (G) vs.
Opelousas Catholic
The first quarter did not see a ton of offense from either team. Sacred Heart jumped out to a 4-2 lead at the 5:42 mark of the opening period, and stretched that lead to 7-2 off of an Amanda Bergeron three-point shot just 50 seconds later.
However, Opelousas Catholic did not rest. The Lady Vikings scratched their way to an 8-7 lead over the final 2:59 of the quarter.
The second period proved to be worse in terms of scoring for each team. The Lady Trojans tied the game at 11-11 at the 2:57 mark and the game stayed that way until Opelousas Catholic knocked down a shot with five seconds to go to take a 13-11 edge into the locker room.
Over the course of most of the third quarter, the Lady Vikings inched their way farther from Sacred Heart, taking a 21-15 lead with 1:37 to go in the period. With the score 22-15 in favor of Opelousas Catholic and 28 seconds left in the quarter, Sacred Heart’s Blair Lafleur was fouled on a made basket, hit the free throw and put the game at 22-18 heading into the final period.
The Lady Trojans collected the first five points of the fourth quarter, including a three-point basket from Carley Cloud. But, the Lady Vikings were able to hit on the next two three-pointers and hit their free-throws down the stretch when Sacred Heart was forced to foul to pick up the win.
Sacred Heart (B) vs.
Opelousas Catholic
With nothing to lose against a much more talented Opelousas Catholic team, Sacred Heart came out with a ton of intensity on both sides of the floor and only trailed the Vikings 8-5 at the 4:45 mark of the first quarter.
Even with Opelousas Catholic putting a lot of half-court pressure, the Trojans were still able to keep it a six point game, 18-21 as the quarter came to a close.
Opelousas Catholic controlled the first part of the second quarter, pulling out to a 26-15 lead with 4:55 left to go before half. Nevertheless, the Trojans did not stop fighting. Behind the shooting of Chase Tate, who drilled two three-point baskets, Sacred Heart got within five, 30-25, as the half ended.
As good as the Trojans played in the first half, they just could not maintain their momentum. Opelousas Catholic began to assert themselves on both sides of the floor, scoring all but four of the thirty points that fell through the net in the third quarter.
From that point on, it was all Vikings, as they stayed full volume the rest of the game.