Lady Jays fall in season opener

VILLE PLATTE – The St. Edmund Lady Jays opened the season with a 42-30 loss to Pine Prairie in the annual Turkey Tournament at Sacred Heart of Ville Platte.
The Lady Panthers jumped out to a 7-2 first quarter lead as St. Edmund’s Payton Crowell scored the first Lady Jay basket with 6:11 on the clock.
A bucket by Camille Leger closed the gap to 7-4, while Abby Miller and Allison Lafleur added free throws and Crowell drained a trey to pull the Lady Jays closer, 10-9.
Three free throws gave the Lady Panthers a 13-9 advantage heading into the second period before Kaitlyn Bradley exploded for eight straight Pine Prairie points.
Maggie Larivieve, Mallory Allain and Sydney Thibodeaux hit free throws to help the Lady Jays pull closer, 21-13.
A last-second free throw by Bradley gave Pine Prairie a 22-12 advantage at the break.
St. Edmund’s Lafleur hit a jumper at the 6:41 mark, but the Lady Panthers went on a 8-0 run before Lady Jay Thibodeaux scored on a putback with 1:24 remaining to close the margin to 30-16.
Trailing 31-16 as the game moved to the final period, the Lady Jays battled as Abby Brown scored from the baseline and Miller hit two free throws.
A jumper by Elissa David combined with drives in the lane by Thibodeaux and Brown closed the gap to 37-26 with 3:12 left in the game.
LaFleur and Crowell scored late to pull the Lady Jays closer, 40-30 but a bucket off a steal by Tori Bordelon made the final Lady Panther margin at 42-30.
Crowell led the Lady Jays with seven points, while Thibodeaux and Lafleur each chipped in five points.
Bradley led Pine Prairie with 25 points, while Lacy Forman added five points.