Lady Tigers fall to E.D. White 52-31
The DHS Lady Tigers basketball team (7-12, 1-1 district) lost 52-31 to E.D. White in its second district game of the season Friday at the DHS Tiger gym. The Lady Tigers couldn’t grab hold of the Cardinals as E.D. White spread its wings early and jumped to a quick 10-2 lead in the first quarter. At the end of one, DHS trailed 14-5.
Head coach Amy Blanchard has been working to rebuild the Lady Tigers team, making adjustments to the lineups throughout the pre-district season. Now, she chooses a young lineup.
“They scrap and they hustle and they are what we want Donaldsonville girl’s basketball to represent,” Blanchard said about starting a younger lineup. “They are very inexperienced, but you can’t coach the hustle, you can’t coach the heart that they have.”
The one senior the Lady Tigers depends on nightly to contribute is Patrice West. DHS couldn’t get much out of West against E.D. White because of foul trouble. West picked up three fouls in the first quarter, which benched her. Blanchard said she should know better.
“Sometimes we get so hyped up that we forget it’s 32 minutes, we try to win the ball game in the first two minutes,” Blanchard said on the team’s early foul trouble. “A lot of those fouls were out of frustration because we were turning the ball over with their press.”
With West on the bench, the Lady Tigers depended on guard Clenshea Mollere who led the team in scoring with nine points, all from behind the three-point line. West was able to contribute seven points to be the next high scorer for DHS.
DHS did gain ground on the Cardinals by cutting the lead to nine points with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The score was 40-31 at that point. However, E.D. White held the Lady Tigers scoreless to close the game with a 21-point victory.
“When we cut it to nine, it was because of hustle and heart,” Blanchard said. “That’s the team I want because it’s contagious.”
The Lady Tigers will take on Brusly at home on Jan. 18 and St. James away on Jan. 22.