Check it Out!
February 26, 2007Yvonne Cuneo
March 1, 2007
Ellender’s Bi-District playoff match up against New Iberia went the way much of its season has gone—play a close game in the first half, and then separate itself from the opponent with a dominating third quarter.
The Patriots lead by seven at halftime, but coasted through the second half en route to a 68-59 win that was not as close as the final score would indicate.
New Iberia pulled within 35-32 at the 5:33 mark of the third quarter, but Ellender answered with a 12-0 run for a 47-32 advantage. By the end of the quarter, the Patriots led 54-38.
Ellender coach Scott Gauthreaux said he was pleased at times, but would like to see more consistency from his team. “We make those runs,” said Gauthreaux. “Thank goodness we made the runs coming out of the locker room. We fall into our comfort zone a couple times too much. It (went from) a very average effort to a great effort. We played well, but I truly believe we can play a lot better.”
Still, what the No. 1 ranked Patriots did was enough to move onto the second round.
Sterling Jones keyed the decisive third quarter by scoring 16 of his game-high 26 points in the quarter, many coming off of second-chance opportunities.
Gauthreaux credited Bruce Harding with providing those opportunities by getting offensive rebounds. “Bruce did a great job on the boards,” said Gauthreaux. “Walter (Jones) and Sterling did a good job of penetrating and finishing. It was a total team effort.”
Things did not start off so smooth for Ellender. After the first quarter, New Iberia led 15-13, in large part because of its ability to slow the game down and force the Patriots into a half-court offense. “The first half we wanted to try to keep the tempo, and we did,” said New Iberia coach Russell Menard. “We did everything we had to, except put the ball in the hole early.”
Menard said his team shot 34-percent on the night. “It’s proven to us all year long … we shoot in the 30’s and we’ve lost,” he added.
After the slow start, Ellender held the Yellow Jackets scoreless for the first 6:30 of the second quarter, bolting to a 26-15 lead that they would never give up.
Gauthreaux credited his team’s defense for the Yellow Jacket’s low shooting percentage. “(Menard’s) telling me that … we saw their ‘A-Game’ tonight, with the exception of shooting the ball,” said Gauthreaux. “They didn’t shoot the ball extremely well, but I guess you got to give a little credit to our defense.”
The Patriots travel to Ruston tonight for a 6:30 tip off.
