Hahnville finishes tourney with 1-2 record, but coach feels team making progress
The Destrehan Lady Wildcats beat Thibodaux, St. Thomas Aquinas, Mandeville and John Curtis on their way to a championship in the St. Charles Shootout.
In the first round, Destrehan knocked off Thibodaux 55-48 behind 14 points from Jordan Dabney. Cara Ursin added 13 points and Brandi Mason chipped in with nine points.
Destrehan’s impressive run continued with a 56-48 win over St. Thomas Aquinas. Jerlicia Morris and Mason led the team with 16 points each. Ursin added eight in the victory.
In the semifinals, the Lady Wildcats were too much for Mandeville to handle in a 58-38 win. Ursin was impressive in the victory, finishing with 23 points.
Ursin only got better as the tournament went on, leading the Lady Wildcats to a 73-60 victory over John Curtis in the championship by scoring 31 points. Dabney finished with 20.
Destrehan head coach Angi Butler was very proud of her squad, who improved to 13-1 on the season with the win over John Curtis.
“They played together as a team to reach our common goal of coming home with a first-place trophy. Winning the shootout was a huge statement for us,” she said. “We knew this was going to be a tough tournament to win with the strong teams that we were going to be competing against, but we stayed focused on our goal to win this tournament and make Destrehan proud.
“I’m very proud of my girls’ performance and their ability to play as a team.”
As the season has gone on, Butler said her squad is making better transitions down the court and they are able to move the ball more effectively within the offense.
Still though, Butler said there is room for improvement.
“Rebounding and gaining more speed on our transitions are a few areas we will continue to work on as the season progresses,” she said. “The girls know how important it is to utilize their individual talents and work together to help make this season a successful one.”
The Hahnville Lady Tigers (3-6) also played in the St. Charles Shootout, finishing with a 1-2 record. Hahnville beat Ursuline 48-13, but fell to both Salmen (19-63) and St. Thomas Aquinas (38-46).
Against Salmen, the Lady Tigers were led by Harley Morris, who finished with eight points and eight rebounds. Morris also came up big in her team’s win over Ursuline, finishing with nine points and 10 rebounds. Ru’Yana Bossier added nine points, while Bailee Kaplan had seven points and eight rebounds.
In Hahnville’s 46-38 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas, Morris once again led the Lady Tigers by finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Kaplan added eight points and nine rebounds.While Hahnville head coach Phillip Bychurch felt that his team had a few breakdowns and turned the ball over too much during the tournament, he says his players have made a lot of improvement since the season began.
“I thought we played much better defense and we are shooting the ball better,” he said. “We still need to have a lot less turnovers and shoot better from the free throw line, but we are making improvement in the simple things we need to do to be successful.”
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