Bulldogs dominate Hackberry in season opener

Andrew Thibodeaux may be playing through an injury, but it didn’t seem to hamper him Monday in Iota’s season opener at Hackberry.
The senior forward, playing despite having a torn labrum, scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a 66-39 thrashing of the Mustangs.
He also added four blocked shots and three steals.
“I was happy to see Andrew play so well,” said IHS first-year coach Dewayne Webb. “That kid has a torn labrum and that’s hard to play through, but he wanted to be out here for his senior season and be there for his teammates.”
Thibodeaux got the Bulldogs going in the first quarter with back-to-back buckets in the lane and Chase Lalande’s jumper from the corner gave the guests a 6-4 lead.
That’s as close as it got for the host Mustangs.
The Bulldogs went on a 14-0 run from there to take a commanding 23-4 lead at the end of the stanza.
Kolton Morgan, Ashton Andrepont and Payton DarDar each hit shots from beyond the arc during the run.
The pace slowed in the second frame with Webb shuffling in some of his younger players later in the quarter.
Thibodeaux and Cole Breaux each tallied four points and Carter Broussard came off the bench and drilled a long range 3-pointer to help Iota push their lead to 39-17 entering the break.
Iota pumped the brakes even further in the third quarter by scaling back their defensive pressure.
Hackberry took advantage of the slower pace and outscored the Bulldogs 9-8 behind five points from Ethan Kyle.
Thibodeaux and Breaux hit back-to-back shots in the lane to start the fourth quarter but the Mustangs answered with an 11-0 run right after to trim the Bulldogs lead to 51-35. Ely Walker scored six straight points for the hosts.
The Bulldogs answered with a 15-4 run of their own to end the game.
In all, the Bulldogs had 10 players contribute points in the victory.
Lalande and fellow senior Breaux followed Thibodeaux with 10 and eight points, respectively. Seniors Kolton Morgan and Ashton Andrepoint added five and three points.
“We have a good senior group and their leadership is very important,” said Webb. “They take practice seriously, they hit the weights, they hold each other accountable and they are students of the game.”
DarDar added seven points, Brayden Bourque had four and Broussard scored three.
Trent Story and Barryn Cox rounded out the scoring with two points each.
“You know, we’re going to play hard and we’re going to play fast,” said Webb. “We played a lot of younger guys tonight and it was hectic at times, but that group is really talented so I’m going to try and get those guys as much varsity minutes as I can.
“If we can keep that group together, I think we will win some games and we are going to shock some people.”
The Bulldogs have a break for the holidays before returning to action on Nov. 29 when they travel to Jennings for a 7 p.m. contest.