Raiding the cache

Mamou boys, girls not able to hold off Northwest
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MAMOU -- When the Mamou Demons and Lady Demons took to the floor Tuesday night, they were looking to hold off the Northwest Raiders and Lady Raiders from stealing the treasure of the night, district victories.
However, neither Mamou hard court team was successful in defending their home floor, as the Raiders sailed in and scooped away big wins on the road.
In the girls’ contest, the Lady Demons fought hard throughout the contest but fell apart toward the end of the third quarter in a 70-45 loss.
Mamou dropped to 7-12 on the year and 4-4 in district play.
If you like stress filled game, the boys’ game was right up your ally. Despite owning a four point lead after three quarters of play, the Demons were unable to convert on a last second lay-up and fell 74-72 to the Raiders.
Mamou fell to 9-5 on the season and 4-2 in league play.
Both teams will travel to Port Barre on Friday in continued district action.
Here is a run-down of the two games.

Northwest (G)
vs. Mamou
The scrappiness of the Lady Demons showed early on in the game. Mamou came out and stayed stride for stride with league leading Northwest. At the halfway point of the first quarter, the Lady Demons only found themselves down by three points, 10-7, despite the heavy defensive pressure put on by the Lady Raiders.
Northwest was able to gain some momentum toward the end of the period and finished on a 6-0 run to own an 18-11 lead as the period came to a close.
The first two minutes of the second quarter saw the Lady Raiders only up their lead by two points. But, as the period wore on, Mamou began to turn the ball over more and more allowing Northwest to increase its advantage to 17 points, 39-22 at the close of the first half.
The Lady Demons could not gain any traction in the third quarter whatsoever. The Lady Raiders kept Mamou from breaking through, even increasing the size of the lead to 20 points, 55-35, as the period finished out.
From that point on, it was mop up duty for the Northwest bench and a clear path to the win.
Braylin Charles led all Lady Demons with 17 points.

Northwest (B)
vs. Mamou
After the first basket of the game, a three-point net burner from Mason Tinsely, Mamou looked like they may run away with the contest. However, Northwest was able to settle in and tie the game at 4-4 two minutes later and extend that lead to 15-9 at the 2:58 mark.
The Demons, not wanting to let the contest get away from them, answered with a 9-3 run over the next 2:42. But, a three-point bucket at the horn gave the Raiders a 21-18 lead going into the next frame.
Mamou owned the first four minutes of the second quarter, breaking the aggressive press of Northwest for some quick baskets. With exactly four minutes left to go in the period, the Demons had opened up a 30-21 lead.
From that point until the rest of the quarter, the two clubs traded made shots and free-throws. When the buzzer sounded to end the first half, Mamou held a 39-31 advantage.
The Raiders came out of the locker room looking like a renewed team. By the time the 4:00 mark had come in the third quarter, Northwest had whittled the Demon lead down to one point, 43-42.
Mamou gathered themselves and turned it up a notch on the offensive side of the floor. Back-to-back baskets by Tinsely and Tammrick Thomas in the waning minutes of the period, gave the Demons a 53-46 lead.
However, the Raiders were not done scoring. With tenths of a second on the clock, Northwest hit a long distance three-pointer to cut the lead to four points.
The two teams began the fourth quarter responding to each other’s offensive surges. A three-point bucket by Mamou’s Tralon Arvie was answered by two long range shots beyond the arc from Northwest, cutting the Demon lead down to two, 64-62, with 3:06 to go in the game.
Northwest took the lead for good, 67-65, on a three-point bucket with 1:40 left to go. From that point on it was a matter of making free throws, which the Raiders did.
A pair of charity stripe shots were made by Northwest with 18 seconds left to go, making the score 73-70. Thomas picked up a bucket 10 seconds later to cut the score to one point.
Mamou fouled the Raiders, forcing them to line for two shots. After one of two were made, the Demons took the ball the length of the court, only to have the last second lay-up blocked.
Thomas led Mamou with 28 points, while Arvie chipped in 18 points.