Hahnville’s season came to an end Monday night at Zachary, as the third-seeded host Broncos earned a 66-45 win over the 14th seeded Lady Tigers in a second round Division I playoff game.
The Tigers (20-10) rallied after falling behind early. Zachary led by six after the first quarter but made a second quarter run to take a commanding lead into halftime. Hahnville pushed back and got the Zachary lead down to 10 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Broncos were able to pull away in the fourth quarter to advance to the quarterfinals.
Zachary is set to face No. 6 Natchitoches Central tonight (Feb. 27) with a semifinal berth on the line.
“They jumped out on us. I thought we recovered there by the end of the first quarter, but it ballooned up at the half,” said Hahnville head coach Joshua Bellaire. “We made a good run in the third to get back into it, but a few spurts here and there and they pulled away in the fourth. Our girls played with great energy and effort all night – we made them earn it. Hats off to Zachary, that’s a good ballclub.”
A’Laejah Jupiter scored 10 points to lead Hahnville. Paige Friloux scored 9, while Dihlynn Mitchell and Amani Williams each scored six.
Hahnville’s posted back to back 20 win seasons under Bellaire, who said this team really started to find its groove near the end of the regular season.
“We played our best basketball down the stretch,” Bellaire said.
Hahnville has some promising up and coming talent on its roster that will have some big shoes to fill next season.
“The seniors we’re losing have been instrumental in our success,” Bellaire said. “Losing Dihlynn Mitchell, that’s a lot of production of course. A’Laejah Jupiter’s been a force in the middle for us. Arielle Brown was a great leader for us as team captain. And Jayan Wells got hurt in the second half of the season and couldn’t play down the stretch, but she’s been here three years with us and is a very hard worker. I was very happy to have her as part of our program as well.”
