Danny Davis
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It did not come in spectacular fashion, but the E.D White Cardinals earned a win over District 7-3A rival Patterson, last Friday in Thibodaux. The Cardinals used 23 points from Ben Martin to defeat the Lumberjacks 56-46 and even their district record at 1-1.
The Lumberjacks fell to 0-1 in district play.
Martin got the game’s scoring started with a three-pointer, and Patterson never led. At the end of the first quarter, the Cardinals held a 15-11 lead, with Martin scoring 11 first-quarter points.
The win helped the Cardinals rebound from a loss at Franklin, earlier in the week. “I’m very proud of them,” said Cardinals coach Jonathan Keife. “We did not play well on Tuesday. The seniors regrouped themselves and the team. Tonight they were rewarded for it.
“I thought we showed a lot of character and a lot of resolve coming out here tonight against a very good Patterson team,” he added. “They’re probably the favorites to win the district, and it was important that we held home court.”
The Cardinals held their home-court advantage with a suffocating defensive performance. After yielding 11 first-quarter points, E.D. White held Patterson to single digits in both the second (nine points) and third (eight points) quarters.
Patterson head coach Ryan Taylor said his team missed too many easy opportunities. “That’s what I told the guys,” said Taylor. “It doesn’t matter who you play, or where you play. If you miss that many easy opportunities, regardless of the reason, you’re going to have trouble beating anybody. Especially when you’re playing a team that’s as well coached as E.D. White is.”
The Cardinals built a 5-0 lead to start the game, but a three-pointer by Josh Jones (18 points) tied it 5-5 at the 4:29 mark of the first quarter. E.D. White answered with consecutive layups, and Jones hit another three-pointer to make it 9-8.
From there, Martin scored the final six points of the quarter for E.D. White, as the Cardinals led 15-11 after a quarter.
The Cardinals eventually built an 11-point lead, 24-13, when Martin hit a three-pointer at the 2:52 mark of the second quarter. Patterson cut it to 24-18 on a Jones three-pointer, but E.D. White extended its lead to 28-20 at halftime.
The Cardinals continued their stingy defensive play, holding Patterson to just eight points in the third quarter.
“We pride ourselves on defense, and we know that that’s going to win games,” said Keife. “You’re going to have your off nights shooting.”
However, E.D. White’s shooting was good enough to give themselves a 43-28 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Patterson cut the deficit to single digits, 50-41 at the 2:47 mark of the third quarter, but failed to get any closer.
Taylor said he felt his team had chances, but failed to take advantage of them.
“We had the opportunities,” the coach said. “We had chances. You’re going to have nights like that, where you don’t make shots. But you’ve got to be able to do the little thing to give yourself a chance to win.”
Keife said his team’s ability to limit turnovers played a large role in the win. “We limited our turnovers tonight, which was huge,” he said. “Not giving them easy buckets off of turnovers and making them earn their points, I thought that was big.”
Other leaders for E.D. White were Bryson Triggs (12 points) and Cory Adams (10 points).
Jones was the only double-digit scorer for the Lumberjacks.
Matt LeBlanc can be reached at matt@tri-parishtimes.com.
Staff photo by MATT LeBLANC • Tri-Parish Times * E.D. White’s Ben Martin (No. 5) goes up for a layup against Patterson’s Paul Cox. Martin led all scorers with 23 points on the night. E.D. White defeated the Lumberjacks 56-46.
