Road warriors

NEW ORLEANS -- To say that the Ville Platte High Bulldogs are familiar with the road is a major understatement.
Out of the 37 games that Ville Platte has played this season, only 13 of those have been at home in the “Dog Pound.”
That road experience came into full use Tuesday night, as the No. 12 seeded Bulldogs took another win away from home when they took down the No. 5 seeded Booker T. Washington Lions 63-59 in the second round of the LHSAA Class 3A playoffs.
With the win, Ville Platte improves to 28-10 on the year and most importantly advance to the quarterfinals tomorrow night at 7 p.m. to face the Brusly Panthers. To no one’s surprise, that game will be on the road.
After the game, Ville Platte head coach Tommy Jones talked about his team’s success away from their home gym.
“Being on the road is not something that bothers us because we are so used to it this season,” state Jones. “We made the
schedule that way just for games like this. It still felt like a home game, because the Bulldog nation showed up here tonight in full force.
That was a big key for us to get this win. I thought we executed the game plan to perfection and we are ready for Friday night.”
From the start of the game Tuesday night, Ville Platte did not show any type of intimidation from the higher seeded Lions. The two teams took turns throwing punches at each other throughout the entire first quarter.
With 3:18 showing on the clock, Ville Platte’s Terrian Roy knocked down a three-point shot to give the Bulldogs a 9-5 lead.
Booker T. Washington tied the game back up at 9-9 exactly two minutes later. By the time the quarter had come to an end, the Lions owned a one point lead, 12-11.
It was Booker T. Washington’s game over the first two minutes in the second period, as the Lions went on a 6-0 run. Ville Platte cut the lead down to one, 17-16, with four straight free throws from Ernest Roberts. Two of those free throws came via technical fouls because the Lions did not put the correct jersey number for one of their players in the official book.
The game see-sawed back and forth for the next 3:15. The Bulldogs found a slight sliver of daylight, taking a four point lead, 29-25, with 3:20 to go in the half. The Lions clawed back, hitting on seven of the last nine points of the period to take a 32-31 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter opened with an exchange of free throws over the first minute, which led to a 33-33 tie. From there Booker T. Washington began to pull away, taking a 45-37 lead with 2:42 to go in the period. But, Ville Platte did not go away easily, cutting the lead down to four, 48-44, as time expired in the quarter.
With the game in the balance and the final period underway, the Bulldogs reached deep into their playoff experience and began to take control of the game. With 4:09 remaining in the contest, senior Jahmal Byers hit a beautiful scope shot off high off the glass to give Ville Platte a 55-48 lead.
Over the next 38 seconds Booker T. Washington was able to bring the Bulldogs advantage back down to three points. But, in the end, it was the Ville Platte free throw shooting that finished the game.