Area teams benefit from T’day tourney

The Thibodaux High School Thanksgiving Tournament won’t have any effect on playoff positioning, and the teams who participated will likely have forgotten about it by the time district play rolls around.

But that still doesn’t make it irrelevant.

Three local schools participated and all benefited from playing in a tournament atmosphere against opponents they don’t know much about.

When it was all said and done, the Thibodaux Tigers went 2-1. The Vandebilt Terriers went 0-3 and the Terrebonne Tigers finished 1-2.

“This is good for my kids,” Vandebilt coach Henry Washington said. “We’re completely new. By playing in tournaments, everyone gets to play an entire game and get the experience.”

For the Terriers, the inexperience showed in the final game of the three-day event. The Terriers struggled to find their groove, as the Thibodaux speed proved to be too much. The Tigers jumped out to an early 13-2 lead and did not look back.

When Thibodaux star Shavon Coleman went out with a finger injury near the six-minute mark of the third quarter, the Terriers rallied from 15 points down to nine. But when Coleman re-entered at the 4:40 mark of the fourth quarter, it was evident the Terriers were in for a long rest of the night.

In his first shot back, Coleman drilled a three on his way to scoring nine points in just over two minutes of play. The Tigers won 45-31 but it’s the Terriers who learned the most about themselves.

“When (Coleman) came back in I could see the kids sigh,” he said. “They just lost track of what we were trying to do.”

But according to Thibodaux head coach Tony Clark, it’s what Coleman has been doing all season long up to this point.

The win was the fifth in a row for the Tigers who were without their starters until this point. The Tigers were shorthanded while their football team played in the playoffs. Four of the team’s five starters are on the team. With their season now over, they returned to practice this week.

“I’m hoping this helps improve our depth for later down the road,” Clark said. “We have more guys with varsity experience now just from a few games this season.”

He added, “To win five in a row with only seven players suiting up is amazing. I’m real happy with the way we look right now.”

The tournament, which is held annually during the week of Thanksgiving, brings a variety of teams to Thibodaux. This year besides the three local clubs, Helen Cox, Deridder and Phoenix all participated.

“It gives us a chance to see a variety of different looks and schemes,” Clark said. “It’s a lot of what we are going to see throughout the season. Anytime we can play teams we are unfamiliar with, it helps in the learning process.”