A suffocating defense and a size advantage propelled the South Lafourche girls basketball team over E.D. White Catholic 82-29 on Thursday night in Thibodaux.
While the two are District 7-4A rivals, it was a nondistrict game.
Four Lady Tarpons scored in double figures, led by Vic Nelson with 20 points, Kyzha Jackson with 13, Traya Bruce with 11 and Ramey Messer with 10.
Grace Clement and Lila Bordis led E.D. White with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
“We performed very well. Normally, our defense leads to our offense, and that’s how it started,” Lady Tarpons coach Rainie Terrebonne said. “It was a great team win. Everybody contributed. That’s always a good thing.”
“We’re really proud of the girls. We went in with two goals: play hard and give an all-out effort. We accomplished both of those things,” Lady Cardinals assistant coach Kristen Daigle said. “We knew they were the better team. We have young kids this year, eighth graders who should being playing Bayou Blue tonight.”
South Lafourche (16-7 overall) scored the initial 11 points of the game, including a three-point play by Jackson.
The Lady Tarpons backcourt trap forced numerous E.D. White turnovers that they converted into transition baskets.
South Lafourche went on an 18-2 burst, getting six points from Jackson and Nelson each, for a 31-5 first quarter advantage.
The Lady Tarpons defense continued to smother E.D. White (9-9 overall) in the second quarter.
South Lafourche went on a 14-1 run, attacking the rim for easy layups as they took a 48-13 lead into halftime.
“Our guards are pretty quick. Sometimes our press looks kind of easy, but we just turn it up a notch,” Terrebonne said. “We moved our feet well, beat them to the spots, set traps and jump passes. The press worked pretty well.”
“Sometimes we have communication issues with the older girls having to step in and not put it all on the younger girls,” Daigle said. “The adjustments we made helped us in the long run, especially when we understood what they were doing.”
South Lafourche pounded the ball inside during the second half. Bruce, Nelson and Messer routinely sliced through the lane for uncontested layups, building a 68-20 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Meanwhile, E.D. White offense moved the ball more effectively, finding Clement for a pair of 3-pointers and Bordis in the post for layups.
“Our half court sets did well. We were able to utilize our big girls both on the high post and the low post very well,” Terrebonne said.
“We were missing one of our post players due to the flu. With what we had, we did pretty well,” Daigle said. “We had good shots; they just didn’t fall. We have to work on the little things: jump stopping, shot faking, those kind of things to eliminate some of the easy misses.”
SOUTH LAFOURCHE 51, E.D. WHITE 42 (BOYS)
At Thibodaux after the girls game, the Tarpons (14-7 overall) erased a 12-point halftime deficit and outscored the Cardinals 38-17 in the second half to pull out the nondistrict victory.
Marquis Francis and Da’Marcus Caine sparked South Lafourche with 19 and 16 points, respectively.
E.D. White (4-11 overall ) was led by Charles Brady with 18 points.
E.D. White led 12-9 after the first quarter, 25-13 at halftime and 32-31 after the third quarter.
THURSDAY'S BOYS BASKETBALL CAPSULES
HOUMA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL 68, VANDEBILT CATHOLIC 47 (at Houma, nondistrict game)
Score by quarter: Tied at 13 at the end of the first quarter, Houma Christian led 32-25 at halftime and Houma Christian led 49-34 at the end of the third quarter.
Statistical leaders: Houma Christian – Trent Washington (20 points), Wes Spry (12 points), Je’Corie Ward (11 points), Cameron Ringo (nine points); Vandebilt – Andrew Robison (20 points), Seth Ponson (10 points) and JaCorey Wells (nine points)
Records: Houma Christian (9-6 overall); Vandebilt (4-4 overall)
ST. JAMES 71, WEST ST. JOHN 58 (at St. James, nondistrict game)
Statistical leaders: St. James – Shamar Smith (31 points), Glenn Brown (12 points, three steals, six rebounds), Dontaz Sterling (10 points, four assists).
Records: St. James (10-8 overall); West St. John (3-9 overall)
GIRLS BASKETBALL CAPSULES
URSULINE ACADEMY 59, ELLENDER 40 (At New Orleans, nondistrict game)
Score by quarter: Ursuline led 20-8 after the first quarter, 29-19 at halftime and 42-30 at the end of the third quarter.
Statistical leaders: Ellender – Terris McKay (21 points), Marghan Frierson (11 points)
Records: Ursuline (15-3 overall); Ellender (12-6 overall)
ARCHBISHOP CHAPELLE 54, ASSUMPTION 33 (at New Orleans, nondistrict game)
Statistical leaders: Assumption – Ra’von Robertson (13 points), Elaina Riviere (seven points)
Records: Assumption (8-9 overall); Chapelle (16-8 overall)
-- Compiled by Chris Singleton/Staff Writer