Charging Iowa set for St. Louis, district
Published 11:09 am Tuesday, January 13, 2015
After opening District 4-3A play with a home win over Iota, the surging Iowa Yellow Jackets girls basketball team will take their act on the road tonight when they visit St. Louis at 6 p.m. tonight in hopes of remaining atop the early district standings.
Iowa has won eight straight and 12 of its last 14 overall. The Yellow Jackets opened district play with a 41-32 home win over Iota. The Yellow Jackets (15-4, 1-0) have held opponents to an average of 34 points per game during the winning streak, with no opponent scoring more than 49 points in a game.
St. Louis (12-6, 1-0) opened district play with a 59-43 win over Jennings. Center Da’Sha Pitre led the Saints with 13 points and 17 rebounds in the game. The Saints enter the game on a five-game winning streak.
“I think we are coming around and coming around at the right time,” said Saints head coach Tony Johnson. “I try to teach to the kids that by January we should be starting to come around. Now we are starting to play some of our best basketball. We played a tough pre-district schedule and that helped get us ready.”
Johnson said the Saints have made strides at each end of the court over the course of the season.
“We have improved with the half-court offense and press defense, we are getting people to play fast,” he said. “We have improved in that so much since the first week of the season.”
Johnson said the Saints have found balance on offense.
“We got a little inside-outside game going with Pitre and Mary Guillory and Maddy McClain, they all can score at certain times. We work as a team and try to move the ball around. We can keep teams off balance by staying balanced.”
Johnson said Iowa’s defense will provide a challenge.
“What impresses me most about them is their half-court defense,” he said. “We are going to have to run our offense and execute.”
In District 3-5A, Sulphur (15-5, 5-0) will look to remain undefeated at home against traditional district power Lafayette (12-6, 2-3).
Iowa and Michon Caesar are set for St. Louis and district. (Rick Hickman/American Press)
