After dominating second halves for most of the season, the Hahnville Tigers found themselves up 27-15 on Catholic after the first half of their bi-district playoff game. But this time, the Tigers went cold in the later stages of the contest, allowing the Bears to claw their way to a 55-50 victory.
“Our team had a great group of guys who really worked extremely hard all year,” Hahnville head coach Brian Lumar said. “I just didn’t think we left it out there on the court like we normally would do in the second half.”
The Tigers (24-8), who finished as the Class 5A state runner-up last season, entered the playoffs on an eight-game win streak and captured the District 6-5A championship with a 9-1 mark.
They started out hot against Catholic (20-11), outscoring the Bears 16-3 in the first quarter and leading most fans to assume a rout was underway. Catholic chipped into the Tiger advantage some in the second quarter, but Hahnville still went into the break with a double-digit lead.
In the second half, the Tigers fell apart.
Catholic outscored Hahnville 17-14 in the third, and then went on a 10-0 run to start the fourth quarter. Hahnville committed four turnovers during that stretch, and Catholic took their first lead of the game with 5:16 remaining.
The Bears never looked back.
“We did not put them away when we had the chance,” Lumar said. “We got very complacent and I always told the team that when you allow guys to think that they can play with you, that gives them confidence and causes you trouble.
“All year we survived with our intensity on defense and we just didn’t step it up and bring it when we needed to.”
Derrick Howard led the Tigers with 12 points, while both Warren LeBeauf and William Becnel added 10. Catholic’s Tanner Breaux finished with 17 points, while Kevin Caire chipped in 14 in the win.
“My hat goes off to Catholic,” Lumar said. “Those guys fought hard and came out in the second half and played like they wanted to move on. They shot lights out and all of a sudden we couldn’t make a basket.
“I would like to tell you that we left everything on the court, but for whatever reason, our effort was not there and we just went flat.”
Hopes were high for Hahnville entering the playoffs, especially after last year’s miraculous run to the state championship game. The Tigers also boasted the district coach of the year in Lumar and the player of the year in senior LeBeauf. Now though, Hahnville will have to wait until next season to try to return to the state title game.
“As far as next year, I always think that we have a chance,” Lumar said. “I am really excited about next year’s team because we will have a bunch of young, hungry and energetic guys. However, I enjoyed the heck out of my team this year.
“It was just a great group of guys who will be very successful in the future and I don’t want to take anything away from the type of season they had this year.”
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