St. Louis rallies to stay unbeaten, overcomes 11-point deficit
Damian Juneau, Special to the American Press
LAKE ARTHUR — The St. Louis Saints rallied in the second half to take a 48-47 win over the host Tigers Wednesday in the Lake Arthur Invitational.
St. Louis trailed 30-19 at halftime but outscored Lake Arthur 15-6 in the third quarter and 14-11 in the fourth.
St. Louis (9-0) took a 43-37 lead with 4:27 to play before Lake Arthur (9-2) went on a 9-0 run to take a 46-43 lead with 1:35 to play.
Tia Reder scored consecutive baskets to give St. Louis a 47-46 lead with 47 seconds to play.
Lake Arthur had a chance to win in the last 10 seconds after a missed St. Louis free throw, but two shots fell short at the buzzer.
“Defense wins championships and that’s what my kids strive for,” St. Louis head coach Tony Johnson said. “We were able to pick up the tempo in the second half and make them take tough shots.
“Lake Arthur is a very good team and they made us work for everything we got tonight and overcome some of the adversity.”
The Saints were led by Paris Guillory and Raven Guillory, who finished with 18 and 10 points, respectively.
The Tigers and Saints went back and forth throughout the first quarter, which finished 12-12.
The second quarter saw Lake Arthur go on a 6-0 run behind five points from Brooke Daboval to take an 18-12 lead. Lake Arthur made a 10-0 run late in the second quarter to take a 30-17 lead with 2 minutes left in the half.
St. Louis cut the deficit to 30-19 on Paris Guillory basket with 1:35 to play before half.
The rally opened the second half with a 6-0 run to get within five. Later in the quarter, St. Louis went on a 9-0 run behind four points from Myca Trail to take a 34-33 lead.
St. Louis increased its lead to 40-36 in the first minute of the fourth quarter.
The Tigers were led by Deonna Brister with 19 points.
Jennings 47
Merryville 28
The Bulldogs (8-0) jumped on the Panthers (7-2) early, building a 31-13 halftime lead and retaining control throughout the second half to stay undefeated.
“We were able to get on them early and kept the pressure on them as this was one of our best games this year,” Jennings head coach Eric Guidry said.
Jennings was led by Jill Fontenot with 17 points. Brianna Doucet and Kyrania Mouton each finished with 10 points. Merryville was led by Maddie Mahfouz with 12 points.
Rodrick Anderson/American Press