By Rodrick Anderson, American Press
No. 13 South Beauregard struggled on offense early, but it didn’t matter as its defense dominated Baker Thursday evening in a 69-32 win in the Class 3A bi-district round.
South Beauregard (19-13) forced the Buffaloes (19-12) into 37 turnovers and 8-of-41 shooting (19.5 percent).
“The defense was key in this game and every game,” South Beauregard head coach Susan Johnson said. “We knew our defense had to score for us.
“The readers had to play a big role in the game. We play a run and jump and allow the readers to get the next pass.”
Dayla Simon (4 steals) and Raelyn Gunter (6 steals) led South Beauregard defensively with a combined 10 steals. Simon led South Beauregard in scoring with 17 points and Gunter had five rebounds and nine points.
South Beauregard will travel to New Orleans to play No. 4 Booker T. Washington, a 67-33 winner over Wossman, in the regional round.
“Of course it gets harder with each playoff win,” Johnson said. “We have to play better than we did tonight to win that game.
“We have to take care of the basketball, No. 1. We have to defend better too. We have to come up with another game plan.”
South Beauregard made four of its first 18 shots in the first quarter and trailed 3-0 after a 3-pointer by Amya Thomas. But on the defensive side, South Beauregard forced the Buffaloes into 13 turnovers in the first 8 minutes.
Gunter made a 3-point play after getting fouled in the lane to tie the score at 3-all and Kayleigh Hudler hit the first of her three 3-pointers to put South Beauregard up 6-3.
The Buffaloes cut the Lady K’s’ lead to 9-6 on a 3-pointer by Taliyah Harper with 26 seconds left in the quarter, but South Beauregard went on a 7-1 run to take its first double digit lead on a pair of free throws by Emorie Fontenot.
South Beauregard improved its shooting percentage and ran away with the game in the second half. Simon opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer and Hudler hit her second 3 to put the Lady K’s up 35-12. South Beauregard’s lead never got below 19 after that.
“It was definitely an off night,” Johnson said. “I guess we didn’t put up enough shots.
“We were rushing the shot. Bad shot selection was also a key. We fussed about that during halftime. We just had to make better choices. We were not playing together at the beginning, that was our problem. We were trying to do it all one-on-one or one-on-four instead of playing as a team. That is how we are successful.”
O’Darrionna Finley led Baker with eight points and Amya Thomas grabbed nine rebounds.
The Lady K’s’ next opponent, Booker T. Washington of New Orleans, played in the state tournament last year as a Class 1A school, losing 38-34 to eventual state champion Elton in the semifinal round of the playoffs.
