Pulling away

VILLE PLATTE -- In a game that Ville Platte trailed at halftime, the Bulldogs utilized a giant fourth quarter push to take down the Crowley Gents 57-40 Tuesday night.
With the win, Ville Platte improves to 5-1 on the season. The Bulldogs are slated to battle the Southwood-Shreveport Cowboys Saturday in the Northside Tournament held in Lafayette. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m.
The first quarter of action Tuesday night was a battle of wills. Every time one team would hit a bucket the other would answer in kind.
One of the main reasons that Ville Platte was able to stay in the game during that first period of play was the outside shooting of Ernest Roberts. The senior knocked down 11 points, including a trio of three-pointers, to lead the Bulldogs in the opening period.
The last three-pointer that Roberts connected on came at the 50 second mark of the quarter and gave Ville Platte a 15-13 lead heading to the bench after the period came to a close.
The back and forth that was the first quarter continued into the second quarter of play. With 3:09 to go in the period, Ville Platte’s Tye’wuan Byers sank a basket that gave the Bulldogs a five point lead, 24-19.
However, Crowley crawled their way back into the contest producing the final eight points of the first half to own a 27-24 advantage with the teams heading into the locker room.
With the game still undecided, the two teams came out ready to maintain the status quo that had permeated the first two quarters of play.
The teams exchanged baskets to begin the period, but with a more aggressive approach on defense and better shooting, Ville Platte was able to go on an 8-2 run over the middle three minutes of the quarter to take a 34-31 lead with exactly two minutes left in the quarter.
The Bulldogs completed the third period with a 5-3 edge to increase their lead by two points.
The momentum created by Ville Platte in the third quarter carried itself over to the final period. The Bulldogs opened up a 49-36 lead over the first 5:18 of the quarter, mostly due to fast break opportunities created by generating turnovers.
A Crowley three-pointer at the 2:27 mark temporarily halted the Ville Platte progress. Nevertheless, the Bulldogs continued to apply defensive pressure and collected hard-fought points under the glass.
An 8-3 run down the stretch not only extended the Ville Platte lead, but also sealed the win for the Bulldogs.
After the game, Ville Platte head coach Launey Coward spoke about his team’s performance in the second half.
“I think in the first half we were too anxious, turning the ball over and making too many mental mistakes,” stated Coward. “At halftime we talked about being calm and not killing ourselves. We found a match-up we liked in the last two quarters and it allowed us to do a better job offensively and defensively.”
Roberts lead all scorers on the night with 26 points. R.J. Williams added 12 points to the Bulldogs’ winning efforts.
Haylen Moutoun led the Gents with 11 points.