The Sam Houston Broncos and the DeRidder Dragons will tie it up in District 5-4A action today in DeRidder at 7:15 p.m.
A shot to move up to second place in the district will be on the line for Sam Houston. The Broncos are currently 16-13 and 1-2 in district while the No. 11 Dragons are 19-7 and 2-1 in district. A win by the Broncos would put them in a three-way tie for second with DeRidder and St. Louis (13-11, 2-2).
"It is a big game," Broncos' head coach Keith Waddell said. "We are going to be playing at DeRidder and it is a tough environment.
“I have seen them in person they are pretty impressive. If we can steal one at their place it would put us in a three-way tie for second."
Although this will be the first matchup between the two teams this season, they did face each other over the summer.
"We need to be able to handle their pressure," Waddell said. "We played them this summer and one thing that caused us problems was their pressure. Our ability to adjust to the changes they make and not turn it over will be key."
After opening up district with a win over Jennings for their first district win in eight years, the Broncos have lost to No. 7 Washington-Marion and St. Louis.
"Our defensive intensity will have to be better than the last two ball games that we have played," Waddell said. "We are pretty confident that the kids will come out and do the things they need to do to put us in a position to win it."
When it comes to guarding the Dragons, the Broncos will have to contend with a team that goes 10 deep.
"They have so many people," Waddell said. "They have nine or 10 man rotation.
“They are real balanced in their scoring. If we do what we are supposed to do on defense we will be in position and that is what we are working for."
After a 68-48 loss to St. Louis, Waddell wants to see less mental mistakes.
"St. Louis did a good job of forcing us into some bad decisions," Waddell said. "We want to make our decision making more sound. The defensive intensity against Washington-Marion was there. We had a chance and I think we were mentally fatigued in the final three minutes. If we can have the same effort against DeRidder we will be ok."
The Broncos have three players averaging in double figures in three district games but Waddell would like to see all of the Broncos playing their top games every game. Dylan Champagne and Quincy Chretien were both averaging over 14ppg before the St. Louis game but are now averaging 11.3 and 13.6 respective. Sophomore Carl Pete leads the Broncos in district playing averaging a double-double with 16.6ppg and 10rpg.
"He (Pete) has really stepped it up in district versus what he had been doing before district," Waddell said.