VILLE PLATTE - The Ville Platte High Bulldogs opened their Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler Invitational Tournament with a resounding 64-46 win over cross-parish rival Mamou here Wednesday night.
The win was the first of the season for the Bulldogs, as they were playing in their initial contest of the 2017-18 season. Mamou fell to 1-1 on the year with the loss.
“This was a big win for us to start the year,”: stated Ville Platte head coach Tommy Jones. “We are just getting the football players out, so it will take some time for us to begin to gel as a team. But, for the most part, I was pleased with our performance tonight.”
Defensively, Ville Platte put its stamp on the game from the opening tip-off. A slam dunk by Ernest Roberts at the 4:18 mark of the first quarter gave the Bulldogs an early 6-2 lead.
From that point on, Ville Platte smothered the Demon offense with pressure forcing a number of turnovers and missed shots. A run of five points in the next three minutes put the Bulldogs ahead 11-2. Mamou did not have any success in the last minute of the first quarter, as Ville Platte took a 14-2 lead when the horn sounded to end the initial period.
“Only scoring two points in the first quarter was a big difference in the game,” said Mamou head coach John Jack. “We did not play well offensively to open the game, and they played great defense. You cannot score two points in a quarter against a good team like Ville Platte and expect a good outcome.”
The Demons did manage to get their offense going in the second quarter, matching Ville Platte bucket for bucket. After the Bulldogs had opened up a 22-5 lead with five minutes left until halftime, Mamou was able to reel off 12 of the next 19 points scored to cut the Ville Platte lead down to 29-17 as the first half came to a close.
The Demons came out in the third quarter looking to put a dent in the Bulldog lead and did just that scoring the first six points of the quarter. However, the Ville Platte defense cranked up the pressure once again and got the lead back to 12 on a bucket by Davondez Doucet with 3:13 left to go in the quarter. By the time the third period had ended, the Bulldogs owned a 46-30 lead.
The fourth quarter was much the same as the first three quarter, with the Ville Platte defense clamping down on an anemic Mamou offense.
With the win, the Bulldogs were scheduled to play Friday night against Beau Chene.
The Gazette will have coverage of that game and the rest of the tournament in Thursday’s edition.
Image
TRACEY JAGNEAUX