Second half surge propels Rebels past Gents

MIDLAND – The Crowley Gents were right where they wanted to be Friday night, holding a 22-18 advantage over the Midland Rebels at the half in the semifinals of the Midland Holiday Spectacular.
From there, however, things went south quickly for the Gents.
Midland took control of the game with their defense and went on an 18-2 run in the first six minutes of the third quarter before disposing of the Gents, 53-35, to reach last night’s championship game against Acadiana.
Crowley took on Notre Dame in the third-place game.
“I got on them at the half and, then, Randy Primeaux huddled the team up and talked to them before we came out of the locker room,” said Midland coach William Stanley. “I don’t know what he told them, but the combination of me fussing and him getting after them gave us a spark.”
Overall, the Rebels forced over 10 turnovers in the second half and outscored the Gents 35-13 in the final two quarters.
“The key in the second half was our defense,” said Stanley. “We were bothering their guards and we started pushing the basketball. We started capitalizing on their turnovers and we started getting layups.”
Crowley coach Jason Lewis knew the defensive pressure was going to come, yet there was very little his team could do to stop it.
“We knew they were going to go into the half and make adjustments and that they were going to come out and play hard,” said Lewis. “They turned it up and we were just undisciplined. In the first half, we played with confidence, but when they jumped on us in the second half, we just kind of folded and that’s disappointing.”
The Gents were able to slow the Rebels down early on, forcing them into a half-court game for most of the half.
Those turnovers, however, in the second half allowed the Rebels to do what they do best - run the court.
“Their defense bothered us a lot in the first half,” said Stanley. “But once we were able to force some turnovers we were able to get going and get some easy layups.”
Devin Gautreaux sparked the Rebels’ rally  with a pair of 3-points during their run in the third quarter and he added another in the fourth. He knocked down five long balls on the night and finished with a game-high 15 points.
Randy Primeaux also played a pivotal role with 11 points despite missing time with foul trouble. Traven Guidy followed with 10 points while Dagan Patin and Taatum Rubin each scored eight. Dyaln Boudreaux rounded out the Rebels’ scoring with one point.
Tyrin Daniels was the lone Gent in double figures with 10 points. Grant Trahan and Jacq’Co Price each added seven points, Alkwan Wesby scored three and Tiron Foreman, Quanterral Robinson, Chris Osten and Paul Goodley each had two.