by Malcolm Butler
Easy.
No other way to put it.
Cedar Creek had little trouble advancing to the Select School Division IV quarterfinals as the No. 4 seed Lady Cougars coasted past No. 13 seed Opelousas Catholic 58-8 Monday night at The Brickhouse.
Creek will now face No. 21 seed St. Mary’s on Thursday at 6 p.m. after the Tigers pulled off a 65-60 overtime upset win over No. 5 seed St. Edmund.
The Lady Cougars scored the first 25 points of the game Monday night as the Vikings were outmatched in every way and at every position.
Creek head coach Katie Hall was pleased with her team’s performance in the win.
“We had a great crowd,” said Hall. “It was amazing. When we play like this, it’s fun. Everyone was clicking on all cylinders. That’s the level we have to play at the rest of the way. We need that same energy, and intensity, and focus.”
Senior Avery Ryan scored the first two buckets of the game, forcing a Opelousas Catholic timeout with 4:51 to play in the opening quarter. It didn’t work.
The Lady Cougars came out of the timeout and proceeded to outscore the Vikings 16-0 the rest of the first quarter to hold a 20-0 lead after one. Ryan scored 10 points in the first eight minutes while Kennedy Hall added five points, including one of the Lady Cougars two three-pointers in the stanza.
Things did not improve for the visitors in the second quarter as Ryan hit a reverse layup and was fouled, converting the three-point play. Another Ryan bucket upped the advantage to 25-0 before Opelousas Catholic’s Camille Francis banked home a three-pointer with 4:50 to play in the half for the only points of the opening two quarters.
Caroline James scored seven of her 11 points over the final four minutes of the second quarter and Mary Grace Hawkins layup as the first half horn sounded gave Creek a 39-3 halftime lead.
“There are some things we have to clean up, but I was pleased with our effort,” said Hall. “It was a fun game to watch.”
With the entire second half being played with a running clock due to the 35-plus point lead, the Lady Cougars utilized much of their bench over the final two quarters, while also keeping some of the starters on the floor.
“I am not one to run up the score, but we needed to get our players reps,” said Hall, whose team hadn’t played in nine days. “I felt for Opelousas Catholic. They just couldn’t get shots to fall. But we needed to do what we needed to do in order to get better and get ready for what is coming up.”
The second half was highlighted by Hawkins’ buzzer-beating 30-foot three-pointer to close the third quarter as Creek outscored the Vikings 19-5 in the final two quarters.
Ryan led Creek with 18 points, while Hawkins added 13, James netted 11 and Hall added seven.
Hall’s team now faces an upstart St. Mary’s team that has pulled upsets over No. 12 Central Catholic (48-35) and No. 5 St. Edmund (65-60). St. Mary’s entered the playoffs with an 8-16 record before pulling off the two road wins.
St. Mary’s has lost to two other District 1-1A foes in Jonesboro Hodge (67-44) and Plain Dealing (48-45).
