Carencro slips past Lady Dogs

LAFAYETTE – Carencro’s Lady Bears forced the Iota Lady Bulldogs into 24 turnovers Thursday evening in the opening round of the Acadiana High Tournament.
And despite that, the Lady Dogs still had a chance to win the game.
With five seconds left, the Lady Dogs picked up a steal on Carencro’s side of the court. Unfortunately, Cambri St. Andre’s shot at the buzzer was off the mark, allowing the Lady Bears to slip away with a 60-59 victory.
“I think we played better tonight as far as doing the things we needed to do on defense,” said Iota coach Meghann LeJeune, whose team fell to 3-4 on the season. “I think we played better, but only in spurts. We still had periods where we lost our heads and we just had too many possessions where we just went crazy.
“If we just do one more smart thing and two less dumb things, we win that game.”
The miscues that hurt the most occurred in the final three minutes of the contest.
The Lady Dogs went on an 11-2 run and took the lead (59-57) with 22 seconds remaining on a putback from Taylor DeVille.
The truth be told, their lead should have been more. But too many mistakes during that run – six turnovers – led to their undoing.
“Every now and then they (Lady Dogs) showed me some excellent basketball, but every now and then, it was elementary,” said LeJeune. “I almost have to chalk it up to inexperience because the people that I am asking to control my offense are people who haven’t ever had to do that before.”
Iota’s lead was shortlived.
Carencro pushed the ball up the court and found Jada Taylor wide open at the top of the key for the eventual game-winning 3-pointer.
The Lady Dogs got the ball just passed halfcourt when it was knocked away by a defender with nine seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds play, they turned the ball over in the corner.
Carencro immediately returned the favor when Becca Fantroy picked up a steal and passed it to St. Andre for the last-second shot.
All in all though, LeJeune is seeing progress from her team which got a late start on the season due to the volleyball playoffs.
“We are going to fight and we work hard,” said LeJeune. “There are games where we probably shouldn’t even be in the basketball game. We’re playing teams that are generally better than us right now, but we can be great. We’re young and we’re making some poor decisions at times. But we are still learning.”
One positive on the night was the play of sophomore Whitney Landry, who poured in 16 points. She also logged five rebounds and three assists.
“Whitney has the potential to get everything started for us,” said LeJeune. “If she’s feeling good and she’s ready to go, she can do anything she wants. She’s such a leader, and a good leader, too. And the kids feed off of her and they follow her.
“She’s fun to watch and if she gets going, she gets the ball rolling for everybody.”
LeJeune was also pleased with Taylor DeVille, who made her first appearance this year after sitting out the first six games because of an ankle injury suffered in volleyball.
“Taylor really played well and we’re excited to have her back,” said LeJeune of DeVille, a 6-foot-1 forward. “I was really pleased to see her get in there and have that confidence. Whether or not she is ever going to give me 20 points, she is a presence on the court that you like to have. And she’s my best help defender and for a big girl, it’s nice to have her in the paint.”
Freshman Madeline Gatte followed Landry with 12 points, 10 in the second half. She also had a team-high three steals.
Mallory Faul was the team’s rebound leader with 11 boards. She also had nine points and one block.
Cambri St. Andre finished the night with eight points while Fantroy, Avery Wriborg and Alexis St. Andre each had two.
Alysha Guidry and Talor Ceaser led the Lady Bears with 17 points each.
The Lady Dogs took on tournament host Acadiana yesterday evening, but results of that contest were not available at press time.
Iota returns to action this evening when they take on New Iberia Senior High at 6 p.m. in the final game of the tournament.