Tigers fail to secure second seed

After the Central Lafourche Trojans lost, all the Thibodaux Tigers needed to do Friday night to secure the number two seed in District 6-5A was upset the No. 1 ranked Ellender Patriots. That however, is easier said than done.

Despite holding the lead twice in the second quarter, (22-21, 30-29) the Thibodaux Tigers were unable to keep the Patriots in check, falling at home on Senior Night 84-73.

Thibodaux High Head Coach Tony Clark said the biggest difference was consistency.

“They are real consistent,” Thibodaux Head Coach Tony Clark said. “That is what we hope to be. We played hard most of the year, our future looks bright but we are looking at the one game playoff now.”

With the win the Patriots close out their district season undefeated, (34-2, 14-0) something Head Coach Scott Gauthreaux feels is an accomplishment.

“We talked about it before the game, that not too many boys and girls teams go undefeated,” Gauthreaux said. “To win seven games on the road is the biggest thing.”

Right off the back the game appeared to be a tight one. Sterling Jones had seven points in the opening quarter and the Patriots led 21-17.

The Tigers responded in the second, taking the lead, but Jones added 13 in the second to help Ellender regain the lead. Jones ended the half with 20 and had a game high 28 points on the night. The Patriots led 44-34 at the half.

Gauthreaux gave Thibodaux credit for keeping up with his team.

“They shot the ball well,” Gauthreaux said. “Some of that was them but some of that is us not playing good defense.”

Behind an eight point third quarter performance by Carlos Coler, the Tigers put together runs of 6-0 and 5-0 to close the gap to six at the end of the third.

The Tigers (14-14, 8-5) trailed 66-60 entering the fourth quarter when Tristan Cheatam hit a jumper to cut the Patriots’ lead to 64-60.

While the Tigers seemed to have the momentum, the Patriots quickly recovered putting together a 6-0 run to increase their lead 70-60.

The Tigers got no closer than seven the rest of the way.

Besides Sterling Jones, Walter Jones (20) and Bruce Harding (10) also finished in double figures. Demon Bolt led the Tigers with 16.

Even though he will take the win, Gauthreaux said the Patriots must cut out the turnovers if they plan on making a run in the postseason.

“As good as we are there are a bunch of mistakes,” Gauthreaux said. “Luckily we have five days to do it. We are looking forward to making a good run in the playoffs.”