Thibodaux, Terrebonne emerge with wins

The Thibodaux High Thanksgiving Basketball Tournament proved to be a success for the two area teams participating in the event, last week. With all teams playing three games, Thibodaux and Terrebonne each finished 2-1 on the week.

On the opening day, Thibodaux defeated DeRidder 66-52 with two players scoring in double-digits for the Tigers. Lorenzo Robinson scored 13 points, while Justin Soniat added 12. Two players finished with nine and eight points.

On the second day, Thibodaux struggled against Ruston. The Bearcats used their height advantage to defeat the Tigers 64-50. Adrien Garr keyed the win by scoring a game-high 28 points. Robinson led Thibodaux with 16 points.

In Thibodaux’s final game of the tournament, it beat Phoenix 65-50.

Terrebonne started the tournament with a 57-45 loss to Ruston. Mike Jones led Terrebonne with 13 points, but Orren Tims scored 22 and Josh Brown added 18 for the Bearcats.

Terrebonne rebounded with a 69-50 win over Phoenix, on Tuesday. Terrebonne had four players in double figures with Mike Jones leading the way with 21 points. Cornell Norman added 14 points, while Brandon Diggs had 13 and Ryan Westbrook had 12.

Terrebonne capped off its tournament play with a 54-40 win over DeRidder.

Terrebonne 54, DeRidder 40

Terrebonne took control from the start, and never looked back in its win over the DeRidder Dragons, last Wednesday night in Thibodaux. The Tigers led 14-6 after one quarter of play, and used the second quarter to extend its lead to as much as 28-18.

A late three-pointer by DeRidder made the halftime score 28-21.

Terrebonne head coach David Neal said he was most pleased with his team’s ability to adjust during the game. “Throughout the game, we were able to adjust to the different changes that (DeRidder) made,” Neal said. “The players on the court did an excellent job adjusting and also keeping a good flow against the different defenses that they threw against us.”

Neal added that he was especially pleased with the adjustments because his team struggled against different defenses earlier in the tournament. “Against Ruston, we never did a good job of adjusting,” he said. “The last couple of days … we worked on that. I’m pleased that the players picked it up real quick. We saw a lot of different defenses tonight—half-court pressure, full-court pressure and different types of mans and zones.”

The Tigers came out firing in the second half, building a 13-point lead on two different occasions (36-23 and 28-25). The outscored DeRidder 14-9 in the third quarter to take a 42-31 advantage into the final period.

Having the lead, Terrebonne was able to use some of its bench players, a luxury Neal was pleased to have. “It’s always enjoyable to play everyone, and tonight we were able to do so,” he said. “I felt like throughout the night, we stayed fairly constant on defense, on the boards and getting into a flow on offense.”

In the fourth quarter, DeRidder never got closer then 11, and trailed by as much as 17 (54-37).

“We got a lot from this tournament,” said Neal. “(We played) three quality teams from different areas. This tournament should give us the confidence that we can play with anyone if we prepare to do so.”

Thibodaux 65, Phoenix 50

Host-team Thibodaux capped off its tournament with a 65-50 win over the Phoenix Spartans, last Wednesday night. The game was tight early on, but after a cold start to the second quarter for both teams, Thibodaux separated itself and took control.

Thibodaux entered the second quarter with a 22-21 lead, but fell behind 24-22 when they failed to score a basket in the first 3:26 of the quarter. Bradley Ward broke the scoring drought with a lay up off an offensive rebound to tie it 24-24. From there, the Tigers caught fire, outscoring the Spartans 15-4 to take a 37-28 lead at halftime.

Tigers’ coach Tony Clark said his team’s defensive pressure helped it to make that run. “When we put a little pressure, we can do some good things,” said Clark. “We’re just not consistent, yet. But … I’m glad we got the win.”

Thibodaux did not let up in the second half, as it built a 20-point lead—50-30—and outscored Phoenix 15-7 in the third quarter, for a 52-35 lead.

Early in the fourth quarter, Phoenix had a marginal run to cut the lad to nine—57-48—but could not get any closer than that. Thibodaux called a time out with 4:03 remaining in the game, and extended its lead to 63-48, before winning it 65-50.

“A lot of times, that last game of the tournament is rough,” Clark said. “Legs get a little tired. At least we got the win—that was the most important thing.”

Clark added that he would like to see more consistency, but rustiness is expected early in the season. “Early in the season, with a young team, sometimes you go through some ups and downs, but that’s a win. I think it was a good tournament. To get to see some teams like Ruston and DeRidder. I thought it was a good experience for us.”

Terrebonne High’s Stan Coleman takes a shot over a DeRidder defender last Wedneday night, in Thibodaux. Terrebonne defeated DeRidder 54-20.