Hit and miss

VILLE PLATTE -- A late fourth quarter surge helped propel the Sacred Heart Trojans to a 43-39 win over the Ascension Episcopal Gators Wednesday night.
Unfortunately, Sacred Heart was unable to stretch that win streak to two games, as they fell to the Notre Dame Pioneers 56-42 on Thursday evening.
With the split, Sacred Heart moves to 3-4 on the year. The Trojans are scheduled to resume play tomorrow when they travel to Mansura to do battle with Avoyelles Charter.
In Wednesday’s contest, neither Sacred Heart or Ascension Episcopal could do much damage on the offensive side of the floor in the first quarter. After taking a quick five point lead to open the game, the Trojans allowed the Gators to go on a six point run to own a one-point lead, 6-5, as the horn sounded to end the period.
Bryce Deville began the second quarter of play by hammering home a three-point basket, but the Gators had the answer, as they reeled off the next eight points, which included two three-point baskets of their own.
Sacred Heart was able to stop the bleeding by taking the ball to the hoop and creating opportunities at the free throw line. The Trojans hit five of six shots from the charity stripe in the final two minutes of the half to cut the Ascension Episcopal lead down to three, 16-13, as the two teams headed into the locker room.
“In the first half we were settling for a lot of shots and part of that came from Ascension’s length and their size,” stated Sacred Heart head coach J.P. Bouillion. “Also, their guards are cat quick and rangy. We did not get to the paint or the free throw line enough in the first half. That was the first time we have seen a team like that this season and I think they just froze in the first two quarters.”
The third quarter belonged to Ascension Episcopal. The only offense that Sacred Heart could muster in the period was a couple of free throws and a three-point basket by Chase Tate.
On the other hand, the Gators seemed they could not miss. By the time the third period had come to an end, Ascension Episcopal had extended their advantage to 11 points, 30-19.
The fourth quarter opened with another three-point basket from Tate. Over the next 2:20, the teams exchanged buckets making it a 34-26 game in favor of the Gators with 6:10 left in the contest.
Sacred Heart’s Austin Darbonne found his way to the charity stripe twice over the next 1:30, hitting four out of four shots to cut the Ascension Episcopal lead down to four, 34-30.
With renewed energy on both sides of the court, the Trojans began to ramp up the defensive pressure and hit shots they had not hit in the first three quarters of play. By the time the clock had wound down to the 1:15 mark of the period, Sacred Heart had sliced the Gator advantage down to just two points, 39-37.
Ethan Karonika’s basket at the 40 second mark tied the game up a 39-39. Taking the ball to the lane, Deville knocked down tough basket in the paint with 25 seconds showing on the clock that gave Sacred Heart their first lead since the opening quarter of play.
With time winding down the Trojans continued to amp up the defensive pressure, forcing some ill advised turnovers by the Gators. Sacred Heart iced the game at the ten second mark when Darbonne connected on a pair of free throws.
“The second half, we started to get paint touches and our post players started to become a little more active,” said Bouillion. “But mostly we started to match their intensity, especially in the fourth quarter.”
Darbonne led the Trojans with 16 points. Tate chipped in 15 points in the win.
Just like their game against Ascension Episcopal, the Sacred Heart offense did not show up in the first quarter against Notre Dame Thursday. The Trojans were only able to hit three shots in the period and trailed the Pioneers 17-6 as the quarter came to a close.
Sacred Heart got back on track in the second quarter, outscoring Notre Dame 11-8. However, the Trojans still trailed by eight at the end of the first half.
The last two quarters of play were close in terms of points scored, with each team reaching double figures in the third and fourth period respectfully. Nevertheless, the Pioneers were able to come away with three-point advantages in each of the quarters to close out the win.
In the game, Bryce Deville led all Trojans with 12 points, while Ethan Karonika added 11 points.