CHS Ladies top Midland in tournament opener

The Crowley Ladies used an 18-point outburst in the third quarter to take the lead and then held off the host Midland Lady Rebels to take a 51-40 victory in their opening game of the MHS Holiday Spectacular Wednesday evening.
The victory sent the Ladies to 8-4 on the season heading into last night’s contest against Lake Arthur.
Midland fell to 11-6.
“We took the lead and then they (Midland) made a little run to get back in it and I thought we did a good job of maintaining our composure,” said CHS coach Alton Allen, whose team led 37-34 late in the third quarter. “We didn’t panic and we were able to hold on.”
Crowley had the height advantage and that proved to be a huge factor, especially late in the second half.
The Ladies outrebounded the Lady Rebels and made it difficult for the hosts to get anything going in the lane.
“I think we were a little intimidated tonight and we kind of played scared,” said MHS coach Christy Hebert. “At this point, we have to be improving each game and tonight, we just kind of stalled.”
The two teams played a back-and-forth contest for nearly the entire first half with the lead changing hands several times.
Crowley led by as many as six (10-4) late in the first quarter, but Midland went on a 6-0 run to start the second frame and took a 14-13 advantage.
Gracie Miller poured in six points in the second quarter and Caitlyn Boudreaux drilled a 3-pointer just before the half to send the Lady Rebels into the locker room with a 23-21 advantage.
The Ladies went on an 8-0 run to begin the third quarter to regain the lead (27-23) but Miller got hot after that and dropped in three shots from beyond the arc.
Miller scored all 13 of the Lady Rebels’ points in the frame to help them trim the lead to three (39-36) heading into the final stanza.
“The Miller girl can flat out shoot the ball,” said Allen. “Distance isn’t a problem. She can knock them down from anywhere on the court.”
Marlie Boudreaux added a shot from long range to start the fourth quarter and just like that, the game was tied at 39-39.
That, however, was as good as it got for the hosts.
The Ladies shadowed Miller the rest of the contest and limited the Lady Rebels to just one point in the final seven minutes.
Crowley, on the other hand, had five players score in the final frame and they knocked down four big free throws down the stretch. They outscored the Lady Rebels 12-4 in the period to secure the victory.
“This was a good test for us,” said Allen. “Midland is a very good team and they have been playing really well. They have played and beaten some really good teams so we knew this would be a challenge.
“They bring a lot of pressure and playing on their home court with a big crowd was a good experience for us to see what we are made of.”
A big plus for the Ladies was the fact that they had four players score in double figures.
Taylor Perkins led the charge with 17 points and Martayshia Guidry, Myra’Neika Lastrapes and Spiritual Guidry each had 10.
“Of course, the more players we can get to score, the better it is for us,” said Allen. “We got contributions from everyone tonight and that was the key.
“And I thought we played a pretty good defensive game. We gave up some things, but we forced some turnovers and got some easy points out of it.”
Mya Lastrapes rounded out the Ladies’ offense with four points.
Miller led all scorers on the night with 22 points. Dai’Ja-Lee Leblanc followed with six points, Marlie Boudreaux added five, Myra Carlson had four and Caitlyn Boudreaux finished with three.
Rebels upend Gents
Midland was able to avoid a sweep in the final game of the night with the Rebels claiming a 74-51 victory over Crowley in the boys contest.
The victory sent the Rebels to 6-12 heading into tonight’s tournament game against C.E. Byrd.
The Gents fell to 2-10. They took on Grand Lake yesterday in their tournament finale.
Much like the girls contest, Midland and Crowley traded baskets in the opening frame and played to a 13-13 tie.
The Rebels went on a 9-2 run to start the second quarter, but the Gents stormed back with a 6-0 run of their own to get within one at 22-21 with five minutes remaining in the half.
From there, the Rebels outscored the Gents 12-6 to take a 33-27 lead at the break.
Maddox Hanks got hot for the Rebels in the third quarter and scored eight points and Kayden Bourque added seven to help the Rebels push the lead to 56-43.
The Rebels distanced themselves even further over the final eight minutes by outscoring the guests 18-8.
Hanks led the Rebels with 22 points. Bourque followed closely behind with 16 points, Anthony Blunt added 14 and J’Stan Keller had 10.
In addition to the leaders, Camron LaPoint, Gabe Vincent and Zach Baker each scored four points in the victory.
Crowley’s Zuri Poullard led all scorers on the night with 24 points, including 14 in the second half.
Trevon Flugence added eight points, Trevonta Ben scored six, Cam’Ron Scott had five and James Collins finished with four. Rasheed Charles and Chris George rounded out the Gents’ offense with two points each.