Pios upend Warriors in season opener

CROWLEY – There’s nothing like getting a season started off on the right foot.
And that is exactly what the Notre Dame Pios did Monday in their 2014 basketball season opener, fending off a third-quarter rally and then pulling away late to claim a 65-46 victory over the homestanding Northside Christian Warriors.
“It’s always good to win that first game,” said ND co-head coach Donald Adams, whose team lost to the Warriors just weeks earlier in a scrimmage. “It puts a smile on the kid’s faces and it gives them some confidence. They (Northside) beat us in the scrimmage, so with us coming back, we really dominated this time.”
That domination was due to the Pios’ defense and the Warriors’ inability to knock down shots on a consistent basis. Northside turned the ball over nearly 20 times on the night and they shot well below 30 percent from the floor.
For head coach Glenn Daigle, it was an all-too-familiar scene.
“Turnovers and our shooting has just been horrible the last three games,” said Daigle. “When you are shooting in the 20s (percent), there is no way you are going to win games, no matter how good your defense happens to be. You’re just not going to win games shooting 20 percent.”
The Warriors (3-4) trailed 31-20 at the half and they managed to cut the lead to seven early in the third quarter following a basket and a free throw by Ty Wilson.
“We made a little run there, but you have to give Notre Dame credit; after that they were pretty much matching every shot we made and then adding points on top of that with our turnovers,” said Daigle. “Once you get that lead, you can space the court out and just run your offense and they (Notre Dame) did a great job of that.”
Claiton Johnson had back-to-back layups off of steals and Jacob LeLeux added a layup and a 3-pointer to push the Pios’ lead to 18 (50-32) at the end of the third quarter.
John Landry and Jeff Frank each came off the bench and drained 3-pointers to aid in the Pios 19-point outburst in the frame.
Johnson added eight more points in the fourth quarter and finished the night with a game-high 23 points.
“The key for us was when Claiton scored those eight points in the third quarter and then eight more in the fourth,” said Adams.
LeLeux and John Duos each pitched in nine points in the victory while Hunter Meche had eight points. Tyler Simar and Nygel Billy each added four points; Frank and Landry each had three and Joe Stringfellow finished with two.
“We had a number of guys contribute this evening and that’s what it is going to take this year - a team effort,” said Adams. “Last year, the offense was mostly Bryce Brandon and Tre Milstead. This year, everybody is going to have to contribute a little something.”
The leader for the Warriors was senior guard Bradley Ancelet with 13 points. Ty Wilson, the team’s leading scorer, followed with 12 points and Tyler Johnson had eight. Jonathan Herman added four points and Cole Henry, Dillon Hayes and Nick Martin each had three.
The Pios return to action on Thursday when they travel across town to take on the Crowley Gents. The Warriors will be participating in the Hathaway Tournament.