Pine Prairie slips past Ville Platte in Tuesday contest

Image

PINE PRAIRIE -- The Pine Prairie Lady Panthers used a strong third quarter to slip past the Ville Platte Lady Bulldogs 62-50 in a non-district contest here Tuesday night.
With the win, Pine Prairie improves to 2-5 on the season. The Lady Panthers were scheduled to play Mamou in the opening round of the Evangeline Parish tournament on Wednesday.
The loss drops Ville Platte to 2-2 on the season. The Lady Bulldogs were also scheduled to play on Wednesday in the Evangeline Parish tournament against Sacred Heart.
Pine Prairie jumped out to a 6-0 lead to begin the game before Ville Platte could get on the board. However, the Lady Bulldogs were able to scratch their way back into the contest and trailed 8-6 with 4:29 to go in the opening stanza.
The two teams continued to throw haymakers at each other for the remaining four plus minutes in the quarter. When the horn sounded to end the period, the Lady Panthers owned a slim two-point lead, 18-16.
The squads exchanged buckets to start the second quarter, as Pine Prairie held a 22-19 lead with 5:38 to go before half. Ville Platte took the lead for the first time in the game when Aliyah Soileau netted back-to-back buckets, giving the Lady Bulldogs a 23-22 lead just 1:15 later.
That lead would exchange hands over the next 96 seconds until a three-point bucket by Pine Prairie’s Brashaylon Doucet gave the Lady Panthers the 27-25 lead with under three minutes to go in the period. That lead would not be relinquished by Pine Prairie for the rest of the night.
The Lady Panthers extended their lead to 32-25 at the 1:46 mark. Ville Platte made a push down the stretch of the second quarter, but Pine Prairie would take a 34-28 lead into the locker room.
The Lady Panthers picked up a basket and a free throw to move ahead of Ville Platte 37-28 early on in the third quarter. That lead grew to 42-30 just three minutes later.
The Lady Bulldogs did make one last run at Pine Prairie. Over the next two minutes Ville Platte out scored the Lady Panthers 7-2 to cut the lead down to only seven points.
But, the defensive effort of Pine Prairie and their running game on the offensive side of the ball was just a little too much for the Lady Bulldogs to handle. By the time the third quarter came to a close, the Lady Panthers owned a 48-37 lead.
Pine Prairie took advantage of the Ville Platte foul trouble in the final quarter and hit 40 percent of their free throws down the stretch to extend their advantage. With two minutes left in the game, the Lady Panthers had full control of the contest, leading 61-45.
Kameron Allen led all Lady Panthers with 17 points, while Brianna Wall added 16 points on the night. Doucet chipped in 12 for Pine Prairie.
Ville Platte was led by Alyssa Soileau who netted 13 points. Trinity Leday pitched in eight points for the Lady Bulldogs.