VILLE PLATTE -- The Sacred Heart basketball teams were unable to overcome the tenacity of the St. Ed’s hard court squads in a district doubleheader Thursday night.
In the girl’s contest, the St. Ed’s Lady Blue Jays pecked away at Sacred Heart in short bursts throughout the fourth quarter to run past the Lady Trojans 35-25. With the loss, Sacred Heart falls to 11-13 on the season and 2-1 in District 5-1A.
In the boy’s game, the Sacred Heart Trojans failed to produce enough offense in the second half to overcome a seven point halftime deficit in a 65-41 loss to St. Ed’s. Sacred Heart drops to 5-19 on the year and 0-3 in league play.
Here is a rundown of those two games.
St. Ed’s (G) vs.
Sacred Heart
The inside-out game was on point for the Lady Trojans in the first quarter. Sacred Heart center Blair Lafleur took it to the hoop on several trips down the floor, creating shots at the charity stripe and helping the Lady Trojans to an 8-7 lead with 1:19 to go in the opening period.
In the last minute of the first quarter, the Sacred Heart outside game got going, as Olivia Hernandez knocked down a three-point shot from the wing and Carly Cloud sank a basket to extend the lead to six points.
Sacred Heart’s offensive production in the second quarter slowed down significantly. The Lady Trojans were only able to muster six total points in the quarter, with the last points coming at the end of the period.
Meanwhile, the Lady Blue Jays found some rhythm, scoring one more point than they had in the first quarter. When the buzzer sounded to end the first half, Sacred Heart held a 19-15 lead.
The two teams exchanged baskets to begin the third quarter of play. With 4:32 showing on the clock, St. Ed’s ramped up the defensive pressure and collected the next six points in a row to take a 23-21 lead.
Carley Cloud and Amanda Bergeron knocked down each a basket for the Lady Trojans over the final 3:31 of the period. But, the Lady Jays were able to steal a bucket in the same time frame to tie the score up a 25-25 as the quarter came to a close.
The final period did not bode well for Sacred Heart. After hitting a three-point basket to open the fourth quarter, St. Ed’s reeled off 20 of the last 30 points, including runs of four, five and six points, to seal the win.
Lafleur led all Lady Trojans with 13 points.
St. Ed’s (B) vs.
Sacred Heart
In the nightcap game, Sacred Heart fell behind 6-5 after 3:40 seconds had gone by. But, the Trojans did not back down, as Chase Tate hammered home two three-pointers and Austin Darbonne hit two foul shots to give Sacred Heart a 13-12 lead after one quarter of play.
The Trojans stayed on top for the beginning of the second quarter, as they owned a 17-16 lead with 4:33 to go in the period. However, the St. Ed’s defense found a way to create bad trips down the floor for Sacred Heart, which resulted in the Blue Jays opening up a 23-17 lead with 2:31 remaining in the period.
The Trojans tried to fight their way back into the game, as Tate drained two more baskets in the ensuing 45 seconds. Nevertheless, St. Ed’s continued to stay just beyond the Trojans and held a 31-24 advantage as the teams headed into the locker room.
The game began to get away from Sacred Heart in the third quarter. By the time the Trojans could blink, the Blue Jays found themselves on a 13-1 run over the first 5:15 of the period.
That path continued for the remainder of the quarter, with St. Ed’s taking a 50-32 lead as the horn sounded to end the period. The fourth quarter was much of the same, as the Blue Jays closed out the game and the win.
Tate had 15 to lead the Trojans.