The battle to either stay at the top of the playoff power ranking or just to stay in the playoff chase continued in full force for teams around the parish this week.
For the Ville Platte High Bulldogs two key non-district games were on tap as they traveled to take on powerhouses Capitol of Baton Rouge and LaGrange out of Lake Charles. The Bulldogs came away with a split, taking down Capitol 70-52 and losing to LaGrange 54-53 on a last second shot at the buzzer.
Meanwhile, coming off of their loss to Pine Prairie on Tuesday, the Ville Platte Lady Bulldogs tried to bring down the Northwest Lady Raiders at home on Friday. The Lady Raiders are the top teams in Class 3A.
Unfortunately, Ville Platte was unable to get much going against the Lady Raiders, as they fell 76-33.
On Thursday, the Pine Prairie Lady Panthers went north to Beauregard Parish to tangle with the East Beauregard Lady Trojans. Once again Pine Prairie proved that patience is key, as they delivered another last minute victory, 33-31, in overtime.
Friday, Pine Prairie was back on the road, this time at Church Point to match-up with the Lady Bears in a district contest. The Lady Panthers could not sustain their win streak, dropping a 40-32 loss for their first blemish in district play.
On Monday, the Pine Prairie let a nine point first quarter lead go by the wayside, as Port Barre rambled past the Panthers 63-40 in a non-district contest.
Here is a rundown of those games played.
Ville Platte
vs. Capitol (B)
Ville Platte got off to a slow start offensively against the Lions, as they only led 12-9 after one quarter of play.
However, in the second quarter, the Bulldogs lit things up. Behind a pair of three-pointers from both Terrian Roy and Tye’ Wuan Byers, Ville Platte opened up a 35-22 led as the first half came to a close.
Ville Platte repeated its scoring output in the third quarter, but Capitol managed to score 15 points of their own to make it a 58-37 game. With a huge lead, the Bulldogs were able to put it in cruise control the rest of the way.
Four Bulldogs notched double digits in the game, with Roy leading the way with 17 points. Ernest Roberts netted 16 points, while Byers chipped in 15 points. Tyler Jones added 10 points in the win.
Northwest (G)
vs. Ville Platte
The Lady Raiders showed why they are the No. 1 team in the Class 3A power ranking, as they blasted out to 23-4 lead after one quarter of play.
The efficiency of the Lady Raiders’ offense and defense continued to show through, as they held Ville Platte to 10 points in the second quarter while picking up another 24 points.
The third period mirrored the previous two, as Northwest outpaced the Lady Bulldogs 20-9. The final quarter belonged to Ville Platte, but it was just way too little to overcome the huge deficit.
Trinity Leday scored 12 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs.
Pine Prairie (G)
vs. East Beauregard
There was not much happening offensively for either team at the outset of this non-district contest, as Pine Prairie only owned a 9-5 lead heading into the second quarter.
The Lady Trojans found something defensively that helped keep the Lady Panthers at bay and allowed East Beauregard to outscore Pine Prairie 10-2 in the second period.
The Lady Panthers fought back in the third quarter by creating a 12-9 advantage and cut the Lady Trojan lead down to one. The final period was a battle of wills, as Pine Prairie finished the quarter with a 3-2 edge to send the game into overtime.
In the extra frame, Kameron Allen sunk a three-point shot in the waning moments to give the Lady Panthers the 33-31 win.
Allen was the leading scorer for the Lady Panthers with 19 points.
Pine Prairie (G)
vs. Church Point
The number eight played a significant factor in this ball game, as Pine Prairie scored that many points in each of the four quarters played.
Church Point moved out to a 15-8 lead after the first quarter and took a 24-16 lead into the locker room.
The Lady Bears matched the Lady Panthers points in each of the next two quarters to keep the game at an eight point advantage.
Asia George led all Pine Prairie scorers with 10 points.
Pine Prairie (B) vs. Port Barre
Branson Fontenot did what he needed to for Pine Prairie in the first quarter, knocking down six of the Panthers’ 16 points to give his team a nine point advantage heading into the second period.
But, it was a total reversal in the second quarter, as Port Barre took control of the contest. The Red Devils found a formula that worked an edged out Pine Prairie 17-7 in the frame to only trail by one, 23-22, heading into the locker room.
The break out quarter for Port Barre came in the third period. In that quarter, the Red Devils outpaced the Panthers 25-6.
The game finished with Port Barre owning a 16-11 advantage in the final quarter of play.