Hahnville coach Yussef Jasmine is hoping a near two-week layoff doesn’t have lingering effects in a pivotal week of district action — one wrapping up with a game against its archrival.
The Tigers will face off with Destrehan Friday night at R.K. Smith gymnasium to kick off the second round of District 7-5A play. Hahnville will be attempting to even the score with the Wildcats, who earned an 87-83 victory on Jan. 3 after holding off an intense Tigers rally in the second half.
Hahnville rallied after falling behind by 20 points in the game, closing within three at one point in the fourth quarter before falling short.
“I think in that game we definitely showed late who we really were. Early in that one, I think we were somewhat shellshocked,” Jasmine said. “Like the moment was too big. Once my kids settled down, they realized they were supposed to be here (and rallied). We can’t play hesitant like we did in the first half of that game. The lesson is you’ve got to play four quarters. You can’t score 37 in one quarter and six in another … it just can’t happen.”
Dylan Lorio led Hahnville in the first DHS game with 24 points, while Ian Arnold added 20.
The hot shooting of those two helped to give Hahnville a chance to rally in that game; maintaining a hot hand this week could be more challenging after an extended layoff of game-action. The Tigers have been sidelined due to the weather, their last game coming at Thibodaux on Jan. 12, a 58-45 loss.
“The layoff isn’t what you want,” Jasmine said. “I think that when you have a rhythm and way of doing things established, your off days routine and your practice and gameday routine, breaking that can be a tough thing. For the most part, I feel pretty good about our upcoming games, though. At the very least, we’re rested.”
The team’s loss to Thibodaux, Jasmine said, came down to the Tigers missing some key shots down the stretch of what was a neck and neck game most of the night.
“That’s always a tough place to play on the road,” Jasmine said. “They’re balanced, with a big physical guy inside, good guards on the perimeter, and they made more shots down the stretch. When we were making shots and executing our stuff, we were right there, back and forth. The thing I came away pleased with was the toughness we showed. Our guys played really hard and physically.”
Claudell Harris and Kendall Pierre each scored nine to lead Hahnville.
While the second round of district play is starting, Hahnville only had three district games under its belt at the beginning of the week. It will have to reschedule its two games that were to be on the slate last week, one at Central Lafourche and the other Jasmine’s first district matchup against his former team East St. John.
“From here on, you’re really trying to fine tune the small details and really hone in on the things the teams we’ll be facing do well,” Jasmine said.
HAHNVILLE 72, H.L. BOURGEOIS 70 – The Tigers (16-7, 2-2) scored an important district victory over the Braves to even their district record.
Glenn Grover and Dylan Lorio each scored 13 and Alonge McClain scored 12 to lead the Tigers.
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