With two games left, Hahnville will need to finish the regular season on a high note in order for the Lady Tigers to keep their postseason hopes alive.
The Tigers (14-12, 5-3) entered this week ranked No. 37 in the LHSAA power point rankings for Class 5A, and would need to push into the top 32 in order to claim a postseason berth. The team will host Central Lafourche tonight (Feb. 6) and East St. John Friday night to close out the season.
Complicating matters for Hahnville, however, is the loss of standout freshman Kamryn Bartholomew, who tore her ACL early in the second half of the Tigers’ home loss to Ellender last week. Bartholomew was one of Hahnville’s leading scorers this season, most notably posting 30 points in a tournament victory over rival Destrehan in pre-district competition.
“Right now, the girls are doing what they need to do,” said Hahnville coach Arrianna Martin. “They’re sticking together and we’re focusing on each game, one at a time. I think it can be a strong comeback for us if we just stay together. We have an opportunity to win, but we have to show up and execute. If we do that, everything will work itself out.”
That said, Martin acknowledges the loss hurts both on and off the court.
“It definitely hurts to see,” she said. “Kamryn said she felt like she let her team down, but it was nothing she could help. I told her that you aren’t given things you can’t handle, and the only letdown would be that you don’t rehab this, recover and come back. And I think she’ll come back and be 10 times better.
“It’s hard to fight back the sadness of it, but at the same time, we understand what we need to do.”
In a 51-21 win at District 7-5A foe Terrebonne, Joseph and Carter each scored 14 to lead the way. Bartholomew added 11 in her final complete game before her injury.
Hahnville led 10-9 after the first quarter before taking full control, including a second half in which it outscored Terrebonne 33-7.
“We didn’t show up ready to play in the early part of that game,” Martin said. “That didn’t make me very happy. But we really got into our game in the third quarter and did what we needed to do. It wasn’t necessarily pretty, but a victory’s a victory and I’ll take it and run.”
In a 46-40 loss to Ellender in non-district action, Makaila Carter scored a team-high 14 points for Hahnville. Kori Joseph scored nine and Danae Lorio added seven. Ellender was led by Marghan Frierson, who scored a game-high 24 points.
Ellender has long been a strong program under coach Kenneth Dixon, and the 19-7 Patriots gave Hahnville a stern test in the season’s stretch run. Ellender took control of the action in the first half, taking a 33-19 lead into halftime.
“They’re a talented, talented team,” said Martin. “We simply turned the ball over too much in the first half, with 12 of them. It was a good test and good game, outside obviously of the outcome.”
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