Tigers suffer first loss of season

Led by 24 points from Schane Rillieux, Brother Martin pulled out a 71-59 win over Hahnville Monday night, handing the Tigers their first loss of the season.

Hahnville kept the game close until the fourth, but Brother Martin broke open the game by outscoring the Tigers 23-15 in the final quarter.

It was a tough off-season for the Tigers, who had to deal with the untimely death of teammate De’Vante Alexander in June, but Hahnville has battled to a 4-1 start this year despite fielding several new and young players.

In the Tigers most recent victory, a 53-40 win against St. Charles Catholic last week, Hahnville was impressive down the stretch. The Tigers led 23-13 at the break, but put together a big third quarter to increase their lead to 40-24.

St. Charles Catholic played well in the fourth, but Hahnville was able to shut the door and claim the 53-40 win.

“St. Charles gave us all that we could handle and they played really hard,” Tiger head coach Brian Lumar said. “I thought that we came out sluggish, but once we picked up the intensity we were able to keep the game under control and pull out the win.”

Lumar admits that Alexander’s death, along with early injuries and a lack of practice time, has been a major challenge so far.

“I think that once we get a few more games under our belt though we will be a really good basketball team,” he said. “Our guys will continue to work hard as we try to gel together as a team and prepare to face a brutal district schedule in which you better be ready to play on a night in, night out basis.”

This year, Lumar said the Tigers are a young squad that will only get better with experience.

“A lot of new and young guys are getting varsity playing time for the first time,” he said. “We will continue to work extremely hard and continue to live by our motto which is ‘Play hard, Play smart, and Play together.’

“Once we are able to accomplish all three things we could be a very dangerous team to play.”