Despite finishing 8-2 in District 6-5A, the Destrehan Wildcats will hit the road this Friday to take on Barbe in the first round of the state playoffs.
Tip off is set for 6:30 p.m.
Both of Destrehan’s district losses this season came against East St. John, who won the district title. The Wildcats lost to East St. John 50-48 in January, then suffered a 58-47 defeat on Feb. 11.
“I thought we did pretty good in district finishing 8-2, but we had chances against East St. John,” Destrehan head coach Todd Bourg said. “In the first game, we lost by two points but missed 14 free throws. In the second game, we had a really bad fourth quarter that did us in.”
As a result of the two losses, Destrehan will enter the playoffs as the No. 18 seed. East St. John is seeded 16th.
The Wildcats will travel to No. 15 Barbe this Friday. The Buccaneers finished the regular season with a 20-8 record and tied for second in District 3-5A with a 5-3 mark.
“They really shoot the ball well and play with a lot of discipline,” Bourg said of his next opponent. “They are well coached and are fundamentally sound on defense.”
Bourg said his squad will have to shut down Barbe’s perimeter shooting attack while also beating their man-to-man coverage.
“Controlling the tempo is going to be big in this game,” he said. “They like to keep the score in the low 40s, while we like to keep it around 50 or 60 points.”
But Bourg said that his team can’t rush shots just to keep up a high-tempo attack.
“Shot selection has been a downer for us this season,” he said. “We have taken some bad shots, and it’s hard make a high percentage of your shots when you do that. I told the guys that the best way to make a lot of your shots is to take a high percentage shot.
“That’s why it’s called a high-percentage shot.”
Destrehan might find that difficult to do at Barbe.
“The biggest thing that Barbe has going for it is that they will be in their own gym, and everyone always shoots the ball better when they are playing on a court that they are familiar with,” Bourg said. “That’s why they call it home court advantage.”
If the Wildcats beat Barbe, they will host Scotlandville, who is the No. 2 seed.
“Everybody is starting out at 0-0 and you have to take it one game at a time,” Bourg said. “To keep winning, you have to play well and have a little bit of luck. We aren’t in good part of the bracket, so we have our work cut out for us.”
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