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| DRAWING A CROWD—Denham Springs’ Brittany Stevens draws the double team from Albany’s Chelsea Rogers, left, and Julie Patterson during their semifinal matchup in the Livingston tournament, won by Denham Friday 65-39. Tonight, the Lady Hornets visit archrival Springfield, while Denham Springs plays at Hammond. |
Area teams take a quick break from tournament play for non-district action tonight, with Livingston Parish's Class 5A girls teams invading south Tangi and another battle along La. Highway 43 taking center stage tonight.
The Hammond Lady Tors (7-3) entertain Denham Springs (10-1), while the Ponchatoula Lady Wave (12-2) looks to bounce back from its second loss of the year as they play host to Walker (8-2) and former St. Thomas Aquinas head coach John McMillan.
"His teams are always very well-coached they pressure you the moment the ball's thrown until the final whistle," said Lady Wave head coach Justin Adams, whose team lost to St. Michael the Archangel 55-48 Saturday in the Episcopal/St. Michael's Invitational semifinals.
"They're a very good basketball team," Adams said of Walker. "Anytime you win that parish tournament, it shows you have a good team."
Walker knocked off the Lady Jackets 43-38 in the Livingston Parish Classic's girls title game over the weekend to end Denham's three-year stranglehold on the parish title. Information supplied to area media late Saturday erroneously had Denham Springs winning the title, and the information was published incorrectly in Monday's
Daily Star.
Lady Tors head coach Tommy Morrison said Denham Springs will be a tough test for his team, which is coming off a 2-1 showing at the Lady Tornado 5A Roundup last week.
"They put a pretty good whooping on Covington (65-18) and that's a district matchup for us," Morrison said. "It kind of gives us an indication of where we stand."
Meanwhile, in Springfield, the Bulldogs and Hornets renew their rivalry as part of a boys/girls doubleheader. Albany got the best of Springfield in the Livingston Parish Classic, taking the boys game 52-39 and the girls contest 58-56.
"There is not much to say about this one," Hornets coach Frank Schiro said. "If they can't get up to play Springfield then I'll be worried about the rest of the season."
It took Schiro's Hornets a quarter to get warmed up last week against Springfield, but once they did, there was no stopping them. After falling behind 13-5 in the first quarter, the Hornets (5-6) outscored the Bulldogs 19-8 in the second period and rallied to a 28-18 margin in the final 16 minutes.
"I think we can get up and down the floor with them and run," Schiro said. "As long as we can stay under control we should be fine."
Albany's J.J. Jackson scored a game-high 24 points and no Springfield scorer reached double figures.
As for the girls, the Lady Hornets (8-3) will try to duplicate their defensive effort against Springfield freshman Brieneshia Chester when the teams meet tonight.
"I had some kids that stepped up and played great defense on her," Faust said. "We need to have the same effort tonight."
Chester, who scored 31 against Albany earlier this season, managed just two points last week at the Classic against Springfield (2-4). Chester is averaging 22 points a game and finished the parish tournament with 55 points in three games.
"She has to score for us," Springfield head coach John Chewning said. "She will come around. They had a good game plan to stop her last time so we'll see tonight."
The Lady Hornets are 2-0 against the Lady Bulldogs this season.
Meanwhile, defending Class 2A boys champion St. Thomas Aquinas (10-0) hosts Slidell (5-3) in the second half of a girls/boys doubleheader. The Falcons defeated the Tigers 71-51 at STA's Veritas Challenge in November, but head coach Errol Gauff said the memory of that game should be thrown out of the window.
"I expect to see one of their better efforts tonight," Gauff said. "We've got to handle the pressure they put on you offensively. They spread the floor well and shoot a lot of threes. I think out defensive effort is going to be a key point. We've got to do a good job guarding all five of those guys because they all can just about shoot it well and handle the ball."
On the boys side, Hammond (3-2) head coach Kilavorus Thompson said tonight's scheduled home game against St. Amant has been moved to Wednesday night.
Other area matchups include Varnado at Amite, Independence at Jackson, Sumner at Northlake Christian, Loranger at Kentwood, Episcopal-Baton Rouge at Doyle, Holden at Bethany Christian and Hosanna Christian at Maurepas.
