Lady Rebels upend Iota in tournament semifinals

MIDLAND – On Tuesday, the Midland Lady Rebels missed some key free throws down the stretch in a disheartening overtime loss to Iota.
On Friday, it was a different story.
The two teams squared off again, this time in the semifinals of the Midland Holiday Spectacular, and once again, it came down to free throws.
Only this time, Midland was nearly perfect.
The Lady Rebels (11-8) went 11-for-11 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter and were 17-for-18 on the night in turning the tables on the Lady Bulldogs, 50-37.
Three nights earlier, the Lady Dogs won an overtime thriller.
“When we were up in the fourth quarter in Tuesday’s game, we missed the front end of two one-and-ones,” said Midland coach Amanda Fontenot. “We went back in practice and we’ve been drilling situations and finishing the big-time, one-and-one situations and the free throw situations; and tonight, we got it done.
“We did everything right tonight that we should have done on Tuesday and that made the difference.”
The victory sent the Lady Rebels into last night’s championship game against Carencro while the Lady Dogs took on Acadiana in the third-place game.
  For Iota, it was free throw shooting and finishing at the rim that hindered them. The Lady Dogs left nine points on the court, making just six of their 15 attempts from the line, that in addition to missing countless shots in the paint.
“That’s been our problem in all of our losses all year long - not just finishing a layup, but finishing a dang ballgame,” said Iota coach Meghann LeJeune. “I don’t know what it is, but right now, we just don’t have the capacity to finish.
“But you have to give Midland credit, they came out and they wanted it more than us.”
Much like Tuesday’s game, the contest went back and forth for the better part of three quarters with neither team being able to distance themselves from the other.
Iota led by five to start the game and Midland’s largest lead was four up until the fourth quarter.
That’s when the Lady Rebels finally put it together and went on a 9-1 run at the beginning of the quarter on a pair of 3-pointers from Brooke Comeaux and a free throw and jumper in the paint by Nicole Kraut.
From there, the Lady Dogs were forced to foul and the Lady Rebels were up to the challenge. Down the stretch, Comeaux drained a pair of free throws and Kristen Breaux was a perfect 8-for-8 from the stripe.
Breaux led all scorers on the night with 15 points. She was joined in double figures by Kraut with 13 points and Comeaux with 11.
Kraut, a forward, also showed off her range, draining a pair of 3-pointers. Comeaux knocked down three long balls as well and Bethany LeJeune, who finished with seven points, had one 3-pointer. Macy Hoffpauir also added four points in the victory to go along with  a handful of rebounds.
Iota was led by Cambri St. Andre and Mallory Faul with nine and eight points, respectively. Madeline Gatte followed with six points, Whitney Landry added five, Jillian Boone had four, Becca Fantoy scored three and Alexis St. Andre had two.