Midland surges past Doyline

MIDLAND – Anyone could have guessed that the reigning, defending Class B champions would get all of their opponents best shot, especially in the playoffs.
But the Doyline Panthers took matters onto a whole other level Friday night against the Midland Rebels.
Coupling with shots not falling and uncharacteristic mistakes, the Rebels got all they could handle from the Panthers but walked away winners with a score of 77-44.
The Panthers ended their season with a 5-26 record, while the Rebels moved onto the Regional Round of the playoffs. The Rebels will next host 13-seeded Glenmora, who defeated Monterey 59-38.
“We guarded well, I thought we guarded very well in the game, but the offense just wasn’t clicking,” said William Stanley, Rebels coach. “We weren’t moving the ball well, costly turnovers, dumb turnovers, trying to force a few shots.
“A lot of the shots we took, they were open shots for us. We just weren’t making them.”
The first half proved to be all that Midland could handle, keeping pace in the first quarter (13-12 in favor of Midland) and only seemingly a couple of steps behind at the half (30-19 at the break).
The biggest issue for Midland early on was getting the ball in the hoop. The shots were there and Midland had second, third and even fourth chances sometimes, but still they would rarely fall, and when they did, Doyline would keep pace, thanks, in part to uncharacteristic fouling.
“Our offense just wasn’t clicking, then we started fouling a lot,” said Stanley. “(Dagan) Patin came in and he was on fire. He was getting rebounds. He was pushing the basketball and running the lanes, getting layups, but within two minutes, he had three fouls. He had a little fire, but then our momentum dropped again when he had to come out.
“It was just a lot of ups and downs when it should have been all ups.
In the midst of the issues, however, was Randy Primeaux, who the Rebels relied heavily on in the first half. Scoring 16 of Midland’s 30 points at the half, Primeaux also led the defensive charge.
“He was the one creating,” said Stanley. “We were living and dying by him in the first half.”
But the bright spot got a bit dark when, just over a minute into the third quarter, Primeaux injured his groin. He would not return the rest of the game.
In his absence, though, the Rebels’ offense began hitting shots, which allowed Midland to finally put some distance in between itself and the Panthers.
Leading the Rebels Friday night was Primeaux with 18 points, Devin Gautreaux with 15, Dylan Boudreaux with 11 and Dagan Patin with 10. Ty Breaux and Taatum Rubin added six points each, Traven Guidry had four and Dylan Cormier and Anthony Massey had two each.