Sweet Revenge! After losing in the finals to Ben Franklin last season, Terriers score reception; win Division II Title
March 3, 2015
Biddy International brings fun, cash to Thibodaux
March 3, 2015
On paper, the Ellender boys’ basketball team was a heavy favorite on Friday night in the team’s opening-round playoff game against Northside.
But by about the middle of the second quarter, the Patriots and their fans knew that the team was in an absolute dogfight to stay alive in the Class 4A State Playoffs.
The No. 9 Patriots took the best shot of their foe, and the end result was a thrilling game that went down to the final whistle.
When it was all said and done, Ellender survived and advanced, scoring a 62-59 victory over the No. 24 Vikings, who ended their season with a 14-16 record. But Northside did themselves proud, according to Ellender boys’ basketball coach Cornell Scott, who said the opening-round game was a thrill for both his team and the Patriots’ fans.
“They came in and were below .500, and everything, so it would have been easy to look at the records and think that we’d have an easy game,” Scott said. “But we never thought that. We knew Northside was a good team, and they came in here and battled. I thought we did a very good job doing what we needed to do to advance against a very competitive opponent.”
A very competitive opponent indeed. Northside came to Ellender’s House of Pain ready to fight.
The opening half was high scoring and extremely competitive with both teams holding leads throughout the pace of play.
Northside used efficient offense to jump on tip midway through the second quarter. But for every spurt the Vikings made, the Patriots had an answer, using a late second-quarter run to take a 40-36 halftime edge.
Ellender senior forward Leland Alexander was a nightmare to Northside throughout the game, scoring a game-high 23 points in the win. But other Patriots like Curtis Anderson, Justen Harris and others pitched in to the cause to keep Ellender’s offense humming.
“Our depth helps us,” Scott said. “There’s no question that’s one of our strengths. We have a lot of kids who contribute to our success. It’s definitely a total team effort for us, and it was again on Friday night.”
In the second half, Ellender made the first run, stretching their halftime lead to double-digits. But Northside didn’t crumble amidst the pressure, using a 14-3 surge to flip a 49-38 Ellender lead to a 52-all tie to start the fourth quarter.
“We fought,” Vikings coach Ross Rix said. “This is not an easy place to play, but we definitely competed the whole night. That’s a good Ellender team, and we definitely went back and forth with them and challenged them throughout the whole night. In the end, we just didn’t do a good enough job defensively to pull it out.”
In the final minute of the game, the madness started. The teams were still tied when Alexander sunk a free throw with 23.8 seconds left to bring the teams even at 59. After Northside couldn’t break Ellender’s pressure on the inbounds, Alexander struck again, tipping in a missed layup to put the Patriots ahead 61-59. After a Northside miss, Ellender put the game away at the free throw line to advance to the next round.
“The gym was packed,” Scott said with a smile when asked about his team’s opening-round win. “It was alive and I think that really helped us to conquer a really good team.”
In the next round, the home crowd wasn’t something Ellender had on its side. The Patriots traveled and faced No. 8 St. Martinville on Tuesday night with no score available at press-time. St. Martinville and Northside are in the same district and Scott said the teams are similar. He said he expected another close, hard-fought battle in the next round.
“I think it’s going to be another thriller,” he said. “The two teams are similar, so I think we’re going to be in another tough game.”
ELSEWHERE IN THE HOUMA-THIBODAUX AREA:
The Ellender boys’ basketball team wasn’t the only team to celebrate an opening-round playoff win.
In Class 3A, E.D. White overcame an early double-digit hole and fought back to trump a very solid Glen Oaks team 46-44.
The No. 12 Cardinals battled No. 21 Glen Oaks to a 44-all tie late in the game. But Kevin Johnson broke the tie with 25 seconds to play, bringing the game to its final margin. With the win, E.D. White traveled to take on No. 5 St. Louis on Tuesday night. No score was available at press-time.
With the victory, the Cardinals improved to 19-6 on the season.
Things weren’t quite as peachy for Central Lafourche, Vandebilt Catholic and Covenant Christian Academy.
The Trojans fell 62-55 to Parkway in the Class 5A bracket, missing a lot of layups and free throws in the defeat.
Central Lafourche coach Mark Sanders said he was upset with the loss, but pleased overall with his team’s season. The Trojans won their first district title in several decades in 2014-15.
“Our year was an unquestioned success,” Sanders said. “We did a lot of great things, I think that we have a chance to get back here next year and make another push. Our future is bright. Our freshmen had a great year. Our JV had a great year, and we were young on varsity.”
In Class 4A, Vandebilt fell 75-38 against Peabody – one of the favorites to win that classification’s state championship.
In Class 1A, CCA fell 70-45 to Country Day.
Vandebilt’s season ends with an 18-13 record.
CCA’s journey is complete with a 14-14 season.
