Terrebonne sprints past rival Braves

Wed. February 08, 2012 at 12:18 p.m. | By Chris Singleton/Staff Writer

Terrebonne's Charles Williams (2) tries to block H.L. Bourgeois' Deonta Ward's shot during Tuesday's District 7-5A game in Houma. (Photo by Kim Smith/Correspondent)

GRAY — In his second season as a coach, Terrebonne's Derek Szush never experienced what it was like to beat parish rival and District 7-5A foe H.L. Bourgeois.

On Tuesday, during an important district game with huge playoff implications for both teams, Szush finally got that taste of victory over the Braves.

With the help of four players in double digits and a huge first-quarter start, Terrebonne rolled to a 103-79 victory, extending its winning streak to four straight games.

"It's a huge win," Szush said. "We've haven't beaten (the Braves) since I've been here. That was our goal to beat every team we play in Terrebonne Parish, and we finally got this one. It's coming at the right time. We're finally clicking. We're listening, and we're doing everything right and what we're supposed to."

The win also kept the Tigers (14-14 overall, 5-6 in 7-5A) playoff hopes alive. They are ranked 31st in the latest Class 5A power rankings, and they need a win in their regular-season finale against New Iberia at home on Thursday to improve their chances.

"We're peaking at the right time," Szush said. "We need one more to make sure we get in there, and hopefully this carries us even farther. We're hot. New Iberia has won their last six. I hope we can get a good crowd for a really big game."

The Tigers had four players in double-digits, getting 34 points from DeShaun Diggs, 23 points from Devante Ross, 18 points from James Ray and 12 points from Charles Williams. David Leslie added nine points for Terrebonne.

Terrebonne never trailed against their rivals, jumping out to impressive leads of 30-10 after the first quarter, 55-33 at halftime and 74-58 at the end of the third.

Diggs said the Tigers have played united and inspired basketball lately, with their motivation coming from a local dance called "the Stan," which is something the Tigers and their fans did early and often during Tuesday's game.

"When we do our ‘Stan' dance, we just get extra motivated and in our zone," Diggs said. "We just balled hard (Tuesday). We're trying to make it to the playoffs. I just want to get my team there. I love my team. They are like brothers to me. We've been practicing hard for two weeks in a row, and we're ready for it."

H.L. Bourgeois coach Andrew Caillouet said nothing went right for the Braves, which got 31 points from Deonta Ward, 19 points from Tevin Jackson, 11 points from Tyrone Amacker and 10 points from Issac Allridge.

"That wasn't just a slow start. That was a catastrophe," Caillouet said. "Basically we played catch up all night. I don't think we ever cut it below 12. You've got to give Terrebonne credit. They wanted the game, and we didn't play a lick of defense. That's two games in a row we have gave up 100 points. In high school basketball, you can't play like that. Unless we can commit to playing defense, we won't be playing very much longer."

H.L. Bourgeois, which is ranked No. 29 in the power rankings, entered the game as the first-place team in the district race, but after Tuesday's loss, it is now tied with Westgate. The Braves (16-12, 8-2) will face must win games at South Lafourche (Friday) and at Westgate (Monday) to close the regular season.

"Our power rankings probably will not be good enough to get us in, so if we don't finish first or second in district, we'll probably be at home," Caillouet said. "If we win out, then we win district. If we win one, we definitely can't finish worse than second and we're in the playoffs. You've got to take them one game at a time. We only have a short-period of time to turn it around, so you've got to challenge your kids on how bad they want it. We've got a senior-oriented group, so we've just got to find a way to win."

TERREBONNE 48, H.L. BOURGEOIS 44 (GIRLS)

At Gray, the Lady Tigers (21-6, 10-1 in district) got off to a slow start, but they turned it on with a 18-14 fourth quarter run that helped them win the District 7-5A title outright.

H.L. Bourgeois (10-14, 5-5) stormed out to a 17-5 lead after the first quarter, but Terrebonne bounced back to go up 24-22 at halftime and 33-30 at the end of the third quarter.

Terrebonne coach Gus Brown said he was pleased with how the Lady Tigers responded to the early deficit.

"We got the engine going after the second quarter," he said. "We were up by two at halftime, kept the lead throughout and just sustained it. We did what we had to do to close it out and win the game at the end. We fell behind in the first quarter, but I'm proud of the girls for stepping up and playing Terrebonne defense like we normally do."

Tyroneeka Howard led the Lady Tigers with 22 points, while Waneka Robinson scored 10 points and Darian Dees added eight.

Kwanzaa Coleman led H.L. Bourgeois with 14 points, while Shannon Jones had 13 points and Jessica Coleman added 12 points.

H.L. Bourgeois coach Claire Minto said the Lady Braves didn't take advantage of the quick start.

"If a team gets out by 15 or 20 on Terrebonne, you can never say you've got it against them," she said. "That team is a bunch of fighters. They have a great coach that teaches them to be that way. They can always come back, and they did."

Both teams had to be separated following an altercation during postgame handshakes. Both coaches didn't comment on the altercation and said they will look into the situation.