Local teams shine in PPHS Finals

By: LANCE REED

Sports Editor

The 2008 Pine Prairie Invitational went much better than Pine Prairie Head Coaches Craig Whittington and Chris Guillory expected. There were great crowds, games and food, much like last year’s event. Both the girls and the boys of PPHS made it into the finals Saturday evening.

“We had a great tournament all around,” Whittington said. “We could not have done it without all of the people who donated their time and effort. Those people helped to make this tournament the success that it turned out to be this year.”

Photographer Bruce Campbell also gave fans something to see. He strobed the gymnasium for extra lighting Friday and Saturday. This is a very rare thing in high school basketball. Most fans only see this at the Top 28 Tournament in the Cajun Dome or at the college and professional levels.

Bracket action kicked up Friday afternoon for the girls. St. Ed’s was defeated by St. Mary’s 36-26.

The St. Mary’s ladies ran into a very tough Mamou team later that night. The closest margin in this contest was eight points. Mamou dominated across the board and in every category. The girls from western Evangeline Parish held a 12-0 lead after the first period.

They continued to play very strong defense in the second period. Shakilya Gauthier was strong on the rebounds and also in the scoring department. She rained down 20 points on St. Mary’s. Her night consisted of 12 points in the first half and eight points in the final frame. Teammate Mia Melvin was also a force under the basket. She led the team in rebounds and scored 19 points.

Mamou’s 51-46 win put them in the finals against the ladies of Pine Prairie. The finals of another tournament would yet again feature two Evangeline Parish teams. The Lady Panthers had qualified for the finals with their victories earlier in the tournament.

The early game Friday pinned the St. Edmund Blue Jays against Pine Prairie. The Panthers dominated the contest from the start, taking a 73-41 victory. The win qualified the Panthers for the finals. They would meet the winner out of Rapides and St. Mary’s. Those two teams played later in the evening.

Pine Prairie blasted out to a 38-16 lead after the first half. An amazing pressure defense forced SEH to make mistakes and turnovers, which led to most of the Panthers’ points. The Panthers played as a team all around. Corey Ardoin had a big night, scoring 15 points.

The Panthers continued to dominate in the second half of the contest.

Rapides dominated the boys from St. Mary’s 84-62. This meant the Mustangs and the Panthers would collide in the finals Saturday night.

Action began Saturday with the boys of St. Mary’s handling the boys of St. Ed’s 70-51.

The girls of St. Eds and the girls of Sacred Heart collided in what began as a very tough contest. The two teams traded baskets in the first frame and the Lady Trojans went up 10-9. Sacred Heart’s duo of Kinzey Franks and Sarah Fontenot worked well together on both sides of the ball and gave the Lady Blue Jays a tough time.

St. Ed’s opened up the offense in the second period and scored 26 points, taking a 10-point lead into the locker room. The Lady Trojans had a hard time answering the play of SEH senior Leah Andrus as she became a one-girl wrecking crew, scoring 34 points in the contest, with 15 points coming off of three-point shots.

Sacred Heart fought back hard and never let up. Unfortunately, the Lady Blue Jays managed to out-score the Lady Trojans in both periods of the second half and roll to a 70-51 victory. Fontenot led the SHHS girls with 17 points. She hit a pair of three-point shots and seven points in the third frame. Franks was good for seven points in the third period.

The ladies went first in the finals. Mamou and Pine Prairie were very familiar with each other and the contest was sure to be a good one. As expected, they traded buckets in a low-scoring first period. Neither team could grab the momentum as Mamou pulled out in front 8-6.

The Lady Demons turned up the heat on their District 6-2A rivals, scoring 15 points in the second period. Shante Tezeno got hot and hit six points and Mia Melvin was amazing under the bucket. Tezeno combined with Mia Melvin to become a force under the bucket Pine Prairie couldn’t answer. The smaller and less experienced Lady Panthers struggled in the rebounds department because of the height from Melvin, Tezeno and Shakilya Gauthier. Mamou totally turned the game in their favor as they took a 23-11 lead into the locker room.

The second half was all Mamou, despite a valiant effort from the Lady Panthers. PPHS Coach Craig Whittington made some adjustments at the break, and they produced some much-needed offense for the host team. The PPHS girls put up 14 points in the third period. Kassidy Crawford was big with six points in the period and she led the team with 15 points overall.

Unfortunately for Pine Prairie, Mamou made some adjustments as well. They scored 27 points in the second half and held on for a 50-37 victory. Melvin dropped eight points in the final period for her team and led the squad with 14 points. Destiny Anderson got hot for the Lady Panthers in the final frame, scoring nine points. She ended the game with 11 points, including a trio of triple-point buckets.

After the girl’s championship, the boys of Pine Prairie and Rapides High School got it on in their final. Rapides came into the game unblemished and tough, but Guillory’s squad was not intimidated.

Rapides went up 16-9 after the first period. The Panthers knew they were in for a tough fight.

Pine Prairie battled back hard and scored 36 points in the second half. Corey Ardoin was good for eight points in the third period and he led the team with 18 points overall. Kelly Allison and David Lang each hit 11 points in the tilt. Allison scored seven points in the final frame alone.

Despite the effort put forth from the host team, the Mustangs held on to a 71-55 victory in the event’s championship game.