By T. Scott Boatright
LACASSINE — Eighteenth seeded Simsboro started strong in an opening round game of the Girls Class B Basketball Playoffs, but 15th-seeded Lacassine held on for a 65-55 win over the Lady Tigers.
Simsboro led early on, but the Lady Cardinals managed to rally for a 13-12 advantage at the end of the opening stanza.
Lacassine outscored Simsboro 24-10 in the second quarter to build a 36-23 lead at halftime.
But the Lady Tigers weren’t about to tuck their tails and call it a night.
“I thought the girls played extremely hard tonight,” said Simsboro coach Matt Herring. “Even when Lacassine would go on runs, we would make a run right back at them. We never gave up and that’s what I wanted to see. We wanted to be competitive in the playoffs, and we were.
“We took the lead in the first quarter, they cut it to four (points) and we pushed it back up to five then they moved back out ahead. But we never quit. We got punched in the face and it was either lay down and die or fight back. And we just kept fighting back all night. We just didn’t make the shots and free throws at the end and they did.”
Herring said the raucous atmosphere during the game fired up both teams and fan bases alike.
“It was a lot of fun — I like that kind of atmosphere,” Herring said. “The crowd was really getting into it — their crowd and our crowd. It was just a great basketball atmosphere, and that’s what you want in the playoffs.”
Simsboro cut Lacassine’s lead to 13 points at 53-41 by the end of the third quarter and outscored the Lady Cardinals 14-12 in the fourth.
The charity stripe was the big difference in the contest, with the Lady Cardinals making three of their four free throw attempts while Simsboro put only six-of-18 of its FT shots through the net.
Eighth-grader Dakota Powell (3) led Simsboro with 21 points, with 10 coming in the final stanza.
“That girl just keeps growing up in front of our eyes,” Herring said. “For an eighth-grader to make the plays she’s making right now, it’s just amazing. She was big for us tonight.
“We had a lot of girls step up for us tonight, but Dakota definitely led the way.”
Curniya McCallister added 14 points for the Lady Tigers, who also received eight from Tamia Graham, seven from Jahkeria Abney and five from Kayla Mitchell.
Simsboro ended its season at 13-15 while Lacassine climbed to 11-14 and will take on second-seeded and District 6-B foe Bell City in the second round of the Class B Girls Playoffs.
For the latest local news, subscribe FOR FREE to the Lincoln Parish Journal and receive an email each weekday morning at 6:55 right to your inbox. Just CLICK HERE to sign up.
