Lady Wildcats must beat Hahnville to lock up district

The Lady Wildcats and Lady Tigers will face off for the second time this season on Friday. Destrehan won the first meeting between the two schools and must knock off the Lady Tigers again in order to finish in the top spot in District 8-5A.

The Destrehan girls’ basketball team has cruised through district play with an 8-1 record, but in order to claim a share of the league title, they must beat Hahnville on Friday in the last regular season game of the year.

Destrehan is currently tied for first place in District 8-5A with East St. John. Destrehan won the first game against ESJ but lost 56-50 last week. Hahnville is currently third in district.

"This game is extremely important because if we don’t pull off a win against Hahnville then we will have jeopardized our first place ranking in district and will have to face a top ten team in the first round of the playoffs," Destrehan head coach Angi Butler said. "This would really require us to step up and play extremely well in order to move on to the second round of the playoffs."

Even through Destrehan has already beaten Hahnville once this season, Butler has been impressed with the Lady Tigers’ defense.

"They are a good full court pressing team," she said.

On offense, Butler said the Lady Tigers are tough to defend because they consistently feed the girls on the block to allow for the inside shot.

"In order to pull out a win we are going to have to stay mentally focused and protect the paint," she said.

Hahnville head coach Kevin Robicheaux knows that the Lady Wildcats are hard to handle because they shoot the ball so well on offense. In district play, Destrehan is averaging more than 61 points per game.

"But they also do a good job of rebounding a missed shot to get an additional opportunity to score," he said.

Robicheaux added that Destrehan is solid on defense and plays mostly zone.

"In order to win, we will have to play our best game and take advantage of any mistakes that Destrehan makes," he said. "We will have to shoot the ball well from outside and also box out and rebound on defense.

"Since it is the final game of the season, it would be nice to finish up with a victory. They beat us at their place a few weeks ago. It would be nice to win and get a split for the season."

The game is scheduled to begin a little after 6 p.m. at Hahnville.

The Destrehan and Hahnville boys’ basketball teams will also end the regular season by facing off against each other.

Destrehan is currently in fourth place in District 8-5A with a 3-5 record, while Hahnville is in last place with a 1-7 district mark.

Destrehan’s last district victory came in a 37-34 win over John Ehret on Jan. 25 while Hahnville’s lone district win came by way of a 43-42 victory over Higgins on Jan. 11.

The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.