Hurricanes down Jays

The district struggles continued for St. Edmund as North Central grabbed a sweep on Monday night.
The No. 2 Lady Hurricanes (20-2, 6-0) exploded for a 23-4 first quarter run and cruised to a 77-20 win over the Lady Jays (4-17, 2-4).
After falling behind 12-0, Jami LeBouef scored the first points for the No. 30 seed Lady Jays on an inbounds play and Constance Fontenot added a put-back bucket for the other St. Edmund points in the first period.
North Central then put the game completely out of reach with a 23-0 second quarter surge, aided by balanced scoring from the Lady Hurricane starting line-up.
The domination continued in the third period as North Central went on a 21-5 run, while Lady Jay Maddie Andrus scored all the points for St. Edmund in the quarter.
Trailing 67-9 as the game moved to the final period, St. Edmund outscored North Central 11-10 in the last eight minutes.
Payton Crowell scored on a lay-up to open the quarter, while Sydney Thibodeaux added a pair of buckets in the lane.
St. Edmund went on a 5-0 run to finish the contest as Kelli Richard hit a free throw, LeBouef drove the lane and two more Lady Jay free throws pushed them to the 20-point mark.
The boys game was much more competitive as the outcome was in doubt until the final minute before the Hurricanes (9-13, 6-0) hit three last free throws to seal a 68-63 win over the Blue Jays (4-16, 0-6).
St. Edmund battled early in the contest as the Blue Jays jumped out to a 19-17 advantage, sparked by treys from Christian McFarlain and Stone LeJeune.
The Jays grabbed their first lead late in the first period when McFarlain scored on a put-back bucket and later added another trey.
The Hurricanes responded with an 11-1 run as the game moved into the second frame before John Ross Guillory drained a three pointer as the Jays closed the gap to 27-23 with 5:30 left before intermission.
St. Edmund went on a 9-1 run, sparked by a trey from McFarlain and four free throws by Kyle Dupre, to grab a 32-30 advantage.
The Hurricanes answered with seven points of their own including a trey from Roderick Smith to retake the lead, 37-34.
LeJeune nailed a three-pointer to tie the game, but Smith hit two free throws in the final minute to give the Canes a 39-37 margin at the break.
St. Edmund opened the third period with a 10-3 surge as McFarlain (25 points) led the way to help the Jays push ahead, 47-42.
North Central rallied with a 9-0 run to retake the lead for good.
LeJeune (22 points) drove the lane with 45 seconds left in the third period to pull the Jays closer but a put-back bucket by Smith gave the Hurricanes a 53-49 margin heading into the fourth quarter.
The battle continued over the last eight minutes as LeJeune pushed in seven points and Cullen Brown scored on a second-chance bucket to help the Jays close the gap to 65-60 with 1:58 left.
Two free throws from LeJeune and another by Dupre pulled the Jays within two points, but the Hurricanes spent to the final 30 seconds at the free throw line to seal the 68-63 win.
“We finally played our best game even with the loss,” first-year head coach Hunter Dawkins said. “I was thrilled in how we played, but I didn’t like the end.
“If we can play this well the rest of the season, then maybe we find a way into the playoffs,” the coach said. “Hopefully we can win the close games.”
After a road trip to False River Academy on Wednesday, St. Edmund will visit Pointe Coupee Central on Friday.