Midland cruises past Lacassine

 MIDLAND – Todd Briley had been waiting for his Midland Rebels to once again play the type basketball he knew they could play and Tuesday night, they did.
The Rebels (21-3, 5-1) finally put all the pieces together again and combining a smothering defense with a balanced scoring attack, they cruised to an impressive 56-28 victory over their longtime District 7-B rivals, the Lacassine Cardinals.
The victory couldn’t have come at a better time or against a bigger nemesis.
In addition to avenging one of their three losses, the Rebels also grabbed a one-game lead in league play with two games remaining.
“I’m just glad to have my team back; I mean I hadn’t seen this group in about a month, where we’ve got after somebody and really played,” said Briley, whose squad dropped a 39-37 decision to Lacassine on Jan. 17 and hasn’t played well despite winning four of its last five.
“We pressed these guys, we got on the boards, we got tips and we were diving. We came out and played with some emotion and we controlled the tempo.”
The Rebels set the tone early, limiting the Cardinals to just two baskets en route to taking a 14-4 advantage. The Cardinals didn’t hit their first shot of the game until the 5:56 mark of the quarter and then went scoreless for over five minutes before dropping in another basket. They also committed eight turnovers in the period.
Midland’s defensive pressure continued in the second quarter when the Cardinals were limited to just six points.
“We kept getting steals and deflections and we got a lot of second-chance points,” said Briley, whose team took a 23-10 advantage at the half.
Midland widened the gap in the third quarter thanks in part to Devin Gautreaux. The junior guard drained three 3-pointers and hit two free throws during a 19-2 run in the first six minutes of the frame and the Rebels went on to take a 42-19 lead into the final stanza.
“We really played well in the third quarter,” said Briley. “Really, we played well the whole game; we kept after them all night and never let up.”
Traven Guidry came off the bench and poured in six points in the fourth quarter and the Rebels outscored the Cardinals 14-9 in the final eight minutes.
“This was a big win for us,” said Briley. “Devin got hot there for a while and Traven came in and gave us some big minutes. Randy (Primeaux) hit some big shots at some clutch moments and Doobie (Darren Arceneaux) finally started catching it at the high post and he hit three or four.
“I saw a lot of good things tonight and I’m just excited because we have been going through some tough times this last month. Luckily, we’ve been winning, but we got in a slump and kind of lost our identity. Tonight, we played.”
Devin Gautreaux led all scorers on the night with 15 points. He also had five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Arceneaux followed with 14 points and 11 rebounds while Jake Gautreaux had 10 points. Randy Primeaux added nine points and five steals, Gudiry had six points and seven rebounds and Nick Primeaux had two points and six rebounds.
The Rebels return to league play Friday when they play host to ESA. They will round out the regular season on Tuesday at Bell City.