Lady Bobcats win third straight

The district match-up of the Erath Lady Bobcats hosting the North Vermilion Lady Patriots, was a match-up of two teams that were going in opposite directions.

The Lady Bobcats have won their last two games and three of their last five.

The Lady Patriots have lost four of their last five basketball games.

Despite both of these teams heading in different directions, they are neck-in-neck for the last playoff spot.

Enter the game on Friday the Lady Bobcats held the 32nd spot in the power rankings and the Lady Patriots were only sat two spots back at 34.

The Lady Bobcats helped their chances of moving up the power rankings with the 34-27 victory over the Lady Patriots, Friday night.

“We worked hard,” Lady Bobcats Head Coach Andrea Bernard said. “We are excited about this win. It was a big win.”

The first quarter was an all defensive struggle.

The score at the end of the first quarter was 5-2, Erath.

It was a 2-2 tied game until Alexa Faulk hit a three pointer with two minutes left in the first quarter. Jasmine Lejune scored the other two points for Erath.

Lunden Graham was the only Lady Patriot to score in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the defense still played tough but the offenses were able to find a few cracks.

Those cracks were mainly found by the Lady Bobcats.

Erath was able to score 12 points in the second half.

Thanks in large part to Caitlin Domingues and Ashley Dubois. They scored six of the teams 12 points in the second quarter.

The Lady Patriots were able to find the bottom of the bucket a little more often in the second quarter, but were still having a little difficulty maneuvering around the Lady Bobcat press defense.

North Vermilion only scored six points in the second quarter.

At halftime, Erath held a 17-8 lead.

The third quarter is where the Lady Patriots were able to find their offensive rhythm.

North Vermilion scored 11 points in the third quarter and held the Lady Bobcats to only seven.

With a little momentum from the third quarter the Lady Patriots tried to make a run in the fourth quarter.

They were actually able to close the gap within four, but Erath full court pressure defense was just too much for the Lady Patriots.

“Our defense came up big tonight,” Bernard said. “Our offense didn’t play bad either. The girls wanted this game really bad and they earned it tonight.”

Erath outscored North Vermilion 10-8 in the fourth quarter, and when the final buzzer sounded, the Lady Bobcats had won their third straight district game in a row, with a 34-27 victory over the Lady Patriots.

“It all comes down to free throws,” Lady Patriots Head Coach Phillip Freeman said. “In a close game like this we can’t afford to give away free points. We just need to work hard in practice and remember that we are still in the playoff hunt, even though we may
need to get into the playoffs through the back door.”

Leading the way for the Lady Bobcats in scoring was Ashley Dubois.

Dubois scored a team and game high nine points. Six of her nine points came via the free throw line.

Right on Dubois’ heels was starting point guard Gabby Harrington who scored eight points.

Jasmine Lejune and Caitlin Domingues were each able to add six apiece to the victory.

Alexa Faulk gave the Lady Bobcats their first lead of the game in the first quarter with her only three points on the night.

Senior Sydney Richardelle rounded out the scoring for the Lady Bobcats with two points.

Erath’s record now stands at 10-8 overall, and a very impressive 3-0 in district play.

Erath will return to the court on Tuesday as they will host the Abbeville Lady Wildcats.

Simone Pillette led the way in scoring for the he Lady Patriots with seven.

Lundun Graham and Morgan Harrington were right there with Pillette as they each added six.

Cassidy Hoffpauir was able to add four of her own.

While Hannah Dardar and Lanie Breaux rounded out the scoring for the Lady Patriots with two each.

The Lady Patritos record falls to 5-14 on the season and 1-2 in district play.

The Lady Patriots will be back in action on Tuesday as they will host the Kaplan Lady Pirates.

Andy Bullard
Sports Editor