Struggling Tigers pick up first district win against St. Amant

Thelezia Folse

The Hahnville Tigers began district play 0-3, but rebounded for a big 63-49 win over St. Amant on Friday.

It took four games, but the Hahnville Tigers finally picked up their first district win of the season, knocking off St. Amant 63-49 last week.

The Tigers have struggled in district play so far this year, opening their schedule with a 61-47 loss against East Ascension. The Tigers then came up short in their rivalry game with Destrehan, losing 45-43, before getting beat handily by Dutchtown, 66-51.

But against St. Amant, the team seemed more in sync, according to head coach Brian Lumar.

"The team rebounded well against St. Amant on Friday night," he said. "I thought that we shot the ball well and played with a lot more intensity."

Hahnville lost four of their five starters from a year ago, and Lumar said he is still waiting for the team to find more consistency on offense.

"We have been really struggling shooting the basketball," he said. "We pride ourselves on playing great defense, but no matter how good your defense is you have to be able to put the ball in the hole."

Against St. Amant, Hahnville actually came out on fire. The Tigers took a 15-8 lead after the first quarter, and stretched the advantage to 31-21 at the break.

Hahnville then outscored St. Amant 16-13 in the third and 16-15 in the fourth for the big win.

Jerqwinick Sandolph led the team with 16 points, while Derek Howard finished with 13.

"The guys are working hard and will continue to improve as we try to rebound and put ourselves in position to make a push in the second round of district," Lumar said. "We always live by the motto play smart, play hard, and play together, but this year we have not been able to put all three of those elements together at the same time. 

"If we do, we could be a dangerous team to play."

Hahnville hosts East Ascension this Friday with tip off scheduled for 6 p.m. Then they travel to Destrehan for a 7 p.m. game on Tuesday.

"We seem to get everyone's best game so we need to come out with a tremendous amount of energy and effort in order to match their intensity on both ends of the court," Lumar said. "We have a great group of guys who I love to death and I know that they will continue to fight until the very end."