Parish champions !!!

Pine Prairie Panthers, Mamou Lady Demons lay claim to Evangeline Parish titles
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BASILE – Not all championship games turn out to be barn burners. A lot of times the hype does not live up to the contest itself.
That was not the case for both the boy’s and girl’s Evangeline Parish Tournament title games here Saturday afternoon, as both contests came down to the wire in two of the most exciting finishes in recent years.
In the girl’s match-up, the Mamou Lady Demons lost a 23-point lead in the second half to the Basile Lady Bearcats and had to hold on for dear life, taking a 58-55 win to repeat as parish champions. In that game, 66 fouls were called on both teams combined, with four Lady Demons and two Lady Bearcats fouling out of the contest.
The boy’s game was just as thrilling, with the Pine Prairie Panthers and the Ville Platte Bulldogs exchanging the lead 15 times throughout the entire contest. However, it was the Panthers that came away with the 56-54 win, hitting the game winning free throw with only 18 seconds left on the clock.
In the girl’s game, Mamou jumped out to a 4-0 lead to start the game until Basile’s Gracie Fournet was able to hit a three-pointer with 5:27 to go in the first quarter. Mamou extended the lead to 6-3 at the 5:03 mark with a bucket by Braylin Charles and added two more points on a coast-to-coast lay-up by Ka’Zhana Richard two minutes later.
The Lady Demons found themselves in foul trouble in the first quarter, which would later come back to haunt them. Mamou picked up its seventh team foul with just under two minutes left in the first quarter. Nevertheless, Basile was unable to capitalize on the situation, only hitting six of 21 free throw attempts in the first quarter. By the time the first quarter closed out, the Lady Demons owned a marginal 10-6 lead.
The second quarter saw both teams come out sluggish, as both squads missed several shots and turned the ball over way too many times. Mamou got its first two points of the period on a put back by Charlie Godeau with 6:16 left to go in the quarter.
The continued full court pressure by the Lady Demons forced the Lady Bearcats into missed opportunities, which Mamou was able to take advantage of. At the 4:48 mark, Charles knocked down a lay-up to give the Lady Demons a 17-6 lead. By the time the dust had settled in the second quarter, Mamou possessed a 31-16 lead heading into the locker room.
Things reversed themselves to begin the third quarter in terms of fouls, as Basile picked up four in the first two minutes of the period. That resulted in the Lady Demons going to the line and hitting on four of six free throw attempts to increase their lead to 35-16 with a little under a minute gone in the quarter.
The Lady Bearcats tried to climb back, scoring the next three points, but Mamou answered resoundingly, going on an 8-0 run over the next minute to bring their advantage to 43-19. However, Basile did not go away quietly, converting on several Lady Demons miscues and knocking down the Lady Demon lead to 45-33 as the period closed out.
The two teams exchanged points to open the final period, with Mamou maintaining a double digit lead up until the 6:03 mark. From that point on, the Lady Bearcats reached down inside and began to slowly cut into the Lady Demon advantage. A Fournet bucket and a Kathryn Giles free throw with a little more than three minutes to go brought the Mamou lead down to 54-49.
The Lady Demons increased the advantage back to seven, 56-49, with 1:24 to go on two free throws from Alayna Charles. But, Fournet would not let Basile go down easily, scoring the next six points and putting the Lady Bearcats within one with only 29 seconds left to go. But, the comeback could not be completed, as Markayla Johnson sealed the game on a lay-up with only five seconds left on the clock.
Leading the way for Mamou was Charles with 17 points, while Richard and Johnson both chipped in 15. Basile’s Fournet knocked down 19 points to lead the Lady Bearcats. Giles added 16 in the loss.
Little did anyone know it at the time, but the start of the boy’s championship game was a premonition of what was to come. The two teams exchanged three-pointers in the first 1:32 of the game, with Ville Platte’s Jamal Byers hitting on two attempts while Pine Prairie’s BJ Ardoin knocked down one of his attempts.
The Bulldogs went up 7-5 on a free throw by Jalen Edwards with 5:35 to go in the first quarter, until Pine Prairie’s Tucker Holsomback popped the net for three points just one minute later, giving the Panthers an 8-7 lead. That one-point lead would remain throughout the initial period. When the horn had sounded to end the quarter, Pine Prairie held a 14-13 advantage.
Ville Platte swung the game back in its favor to begin the second quarter, scoring on two quick buckets, one of them from Tyler Jones. The Panthers did not let the momentum get away, as they went on a 5-3 run to take a 19-18 lead with 3:32 left to go in the period. The Bulldogs retook the lead, 21-20, on a free throw from Jones and a put back off of the hand of Ernest Roberts.
However, that lead would not last long, as Pine Prairie’s Isaiah Payne hit two free throws and JJ Sims put in a basket to make the score 26-21 with 1:01 to go in the half. Ville Platte responded with four straight points by Roberts to close the gap to one as the second quarter ended.
The game teeter-tottered between the two schools to open up the second half. Bulldog guard Jamal Byers hit a three-point shot from the top of the key to give Ville Platte a 31-29 lead with 5:15 to go in the third quarter. The Bulldogs would extend that lead by two more points, until the Panthers tied it once again after going on a 4-0 run.
Once again, neither team could gain more than a three point advantage for the rest of the period, as the both Ville Platte and Pine Prairie matched each other bucket for bucket. With only one second left on the clock, Byers found the basket for two points to put the Bulldogs up 40-39 heading into the final period.
Basket after basket, the hardcourt warriors continued to fight a very even battle. With the game tied at 48-48 at the 2:18 mark, a controversial technical foul was called on Roberts for hanging on the rim. Sims stepped up and hit both free throws, giving the Panthers a 50-48 lead.
That lead would not last long, as Ville Platte put in the next four out of five points to regain the lead, 52-51. The rest of the contest boiled down to free throws, with each team shooting in the double bonus for the remaining minute of the game.
In the end, it was Pine Prairie who found a way to make the charity stripe shots count the most, hitting on six of eight attempts at the line to seal the win. During that same stretch, The Bulldogs were only able to connect on one of six tries.
Isaiah Payne led the Panthers in scoring with 23 points, while Sims added 13 points. Ville Platte’s Jamal Byers hit for 15 points to lead the Bulldogs. Tyran Jones and Ernest Roberts contributed 14 and 13 points respectively in the loss.