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Sulphur, La. —
By RODRICK ANDERSON
@SDNRodrickA
SULPHUR — With the end of the regular season right around the corner, it is crunch time for local prep basketball teams with some looking to seal up district titles and others fighting to make the playoffs.
The Westlake Lady Rams will play a pivotal game today at 6 p.m. (7:15 p.m. boys’ varsity) when they host Notre Dame, the only team to beat them in District 4-3A action this year.
A win for the Lady Rams will give them at least a share of the district title for the second consecutive year. But their ultimate goal is to win the district title out right making a win tonight against Notre Dame even more important.
“Last year was pretty exciting because it was the first time (ever to win a district title),” Westlake head coach Gloria Fontenot said. “The difference this year is we want to win the district out right. That is the driving point this year. We don’t want to have to share it.”
Since beating the Lady Rams (17-8, 6-1) 65-62, Notre Dame (16-12, 4-3) has lost three of their last four games. Westlake plans on making a few changes to their defense to make up for that loss.
“I think they (Notre Dame) struggle more against a man-to-man defense which we didn’t play gainst them,” Fontenot said. “We tried to use the press and the high trap and stuck to our zone.
“We are going to still run some of that but I want to mix it up more and run some man.”
On the boys’ side fo the district, the Westlake Rams (13-11, 5-2) dropped out of the top spot in the district after a loss on Tuesday to Jennings (16-10, 5-2) but they will have to pick up a win against the Pios (2-21, 0-7) today to keep pace with district leading Crowley (12-12, 6-1) .
Over in District 3-5A, the Sulphur Tors are fighting to stay in contention for the playoffs.
Just a couple of weeks ago, the Tors were in the top-32 but with six straight losses, they now sit at No. 40 in the unofficial LHSAA power rankings. They will most likely need to win all three of their remaining games starting with a road game against No. 8 Comeaux today to get into the playoffs.
“We have to take it one game at a time but I know it would be a tremendous boost to beat Comeaux because I know they are ranked way up there,” Sulphur head coach Clint LeBato said. “We would get a lot of power points if we can beat them.
By RODRICK ANDERSON
@SDNRodrickA
SULPHUR — With the end of the regular season right around the corner, it is crunch time for local prep basketball teams with some looking to seal up district titles and others fighting to make the playoffs.
The Westlake Lady Rams will play a pivotal game today at 6 p.m. (7:15 p.m. boys’ varsity) when they host Notre Dame, the only team to beat them in District 4-3A action this year.
A win for the Lady Rams will give them at least a share of the district title for the second consecutive year. But their ultimate goal is to win the district title out right making a win tonight against Notre Dame even more important.
“Last year was pretty exciting because it was the first time (ever to win a district title),” Westlake head coach Gloria Fontenot said. “The difference this year is we want to win the district out right. That is the driving point this year. We don’t want to have to share it.”
Since beating the Lady Rams (17-8, 6-1) 65-62, Notre Dame (16-12, 4-3) has lost three of their last four games. Westlake plans on making a few changes to their defense to make up for that loss.
“I think they (Notre Dame) struggle more against a man-to-man defense which we didn’t play gainst them,” Fontenot said. “We tried to use the press and the high trap and stuck to our zone.
“We are going to still run some of that but I want to mix it up more and run some man.”
On the boys’ side fo the district, the Westlake Rams (13-11, 5-2) dropped out of the top spot in the district after a loss on Tuesday to Jennings (16-10, 5-2) but they will have to pick up a win against the Pios (2-21, 0-7) today to keep pace with district leading Crowley (12-12, 6-1) .
Over in District 3-5A, the Sulphur Tors are fighting to stay in contention for the playoffs.
Just a couple of weeks ago, the Tors were in the top-32 but with six straight losses, they now sit at No. 40 in the unofficial LHSAA power rankings. They will most likely need to win all three of their remaining games starting with a road game against No. 8 Comeaux today to get into the playoffs.
“We have to take it one game at a time but I know it would be a tremendous boost to beat Comeaux because I know they are ranked way up there,” Sulphur head coach Clint LeBato said. “We would get a lot of power points if we can beat them.
“If we go over there focused I think we have a chance but it is going to be a tough task.”
On the girls’ side of District 3-5A No. 2 Lafayette has already wrapped up the outright district title but the Sulphur Lady Tors are in the running for second and the half-a-power point that comes with it.
“With Carencro getting beat the other night that put us back to where we control our own destiny,” Sulphur head coach Helen Lefevre said. “I told the kids you play 26 games in season and you still control your own destiny then you did something right.
“We win out and we get that half a point which will be huge. We came out 12th in the standings this morning (Tuesday). We dropped one after losing to Lafayette. So we like to think that if we can win out with these last three (games) and get that half a point we can break the top-10 for the playoffs.”
Sulphur (20-7, 6-3) is currently half a game behind Carencro (16-8, 7-3) who is second in the district currently. The Lady Tors will play at Comeaux today at 6:15 p.m.
The Sam Houston Broncos are enjoying one of their best seasons in program history at 18-8 and are currently ranked 26th in the power rankings.
The Broncos will start their final three game stretch today at Barbe looking to move up in the rankings.
The Sam Houston Lady Broncos on the other hand are trying to keep from falling out of the top-32. They are currently ranked 32nd and will face two of the top four teams in the district in their final three district games.
The girls’ varsity game between Sam Houston and Barbe will start at 6:15 p.m. followed by the boys’ varsity game.
