Mamou holds back Pine Prairie, taking two key district wins

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PINE PRAIRIE -- Anytime the Mamou and Pine Prairie basketball teams get together on the court, fans know they will get their money’s worth.
Once again, that was the case Friday night, as the two schools tangled in a twin bill of District 5-3A contests.
In girl’s action, the Mamou Lady Demons used a 12 point advantage in the third quarter, overcoming a half time deficit and staving off the Pine Prairie Lady Panthers in a 54-46 win.
The Lady Demons improve to 9-14 on the year and 6-6 in district, while the Lady Panthers fall to 8-15 and 4-8 in league play.
In the nightcap, the Mamou Demons battled through a rough first quarter to run past the Pine Prairie Panthers 73-64.
The Demons raise their record to 11-8 overall and 8-3 in district action, while the Panthers drop to 12-10 and 4-6 in district.
In the girl’s contest, Mamou looked more ready to play to start the first quarter, jumping out to a 6-2 lead about half way through the period. However, the Lady Panthers found their stride down the stretch, picking up the next eight points in a row to take a 10-6 lead with 1:22 to go in the period and held on to that advantage for the remaining time.
Pine Prairie carried that momentum into the second quarter. The Lady Panthers knocked down a pair of three-pointers, one each from Kailey Doucet and Kameron Allen, to help them get going on a 9-2 run to begin the period.
Mamou then reeled off nine points in a row of their own to close the gap down to two, 19-17, with three minutes left in the quarter. The rest of the period saw neither team able to gain any more advantage and Pine Prairie headed into the locker room with a slim 24-22 lead.
As the two teams took to the court to begin the second half, the adjustments by the Lady Demons began to pay off, especially on the offensive side of the floor. Mamou exploded for a 10-0 run over the first 2:49 seconds of the third quarter, with most of that damage coming from Kazhanna Richard.
By the time the Lady Panthers could catch their breath, a two point lead had vaporized and the Lady Demons now controlled the game, leading 39-29 moving into the final period of play.
But, Pine Prairie did not go quietly into the night. The Lady Panthers scratched and clawed their way back, cutting the Mamou lead down to four 47-43, with only 1:15 left in the game.
In the end the Lady Demons were able to hit their free throws and hold off the late charging Lady Panthers.
Richard led Mamou with 30 points, while Allen knocked down 19 points for Pine Prairie.
The boy’s game mimicked the girl’s game in terms of first quarter play. Mamou was able to jump out to 9-2 lead in a matter of 2:30. Never-the-less, Pine Prairie was able to right the ship, slowly cutting into the Demon advantage.
As the first quarter wound down, the Panthers turned up the volume offensively, pounding out 20 of the next 28 points to take a 22-17 lead as the horn sounded.
The two teams battled it out to start the second quarter of play. Pine Prairie’s Isaiah Payne hit one of two free throws for the first point of the period. Behind Tammrick Thomas’ four points, Mamou took over the lead, 24-23, 1:30 into the quarter.
The lead changed hands again just 30 seconds later on two free throws from JJ Sims and a basket from Kyler Carson. However, the Demons put it into another gear and went on a 16-8 run to close out the quarter and take a 40-35 lead at the half.
That lead remained pretty much the same for the first 3:09 seconds of the third quarter. But, Mamou’s Tralon Arvie lit up the scoreboard, scoring nine of the Demon’s last 11 points in the period to give Mamou a 58-45 lead at the end of three quarters of play.
The closest the Panthers could come in the final period was six points, 68-62, at the 1:54 mark. Still, the Demons would not relent their lead and found a way to get the job done in the final minutes of the game and pick up the big win.
Thomas led all scorers in the contest, scorching the nets for 35 points. Arvie added 14 points for Mamou.
Payne knocked down 22 points to lead Pine Prairie. Sims pitched in 16 points in the losing effort.