DHS stays perfect in district with blowout win

Donaldsonville has dominated District 9-3A so far this season, and that didn’t change on Friday night.

The Tigers jumped out to a 14-point halftime lead over Patterson. And in the second half, they never let up. 

They blew the Lumberjacks out of the water, outscoring them, 28-13, in the third quarter. It paved the way for an 86-47 victory.

“We talked about adjusting in the second half—not giving up driving lanes, contesting shots and rotating. We weren’t doing the little things in the first half, but we were able to get that right in the second half,” Donaldsonville head coach Lionel Gilbert said.

The Tigers came out hot in the first quarter. Raiyen Oatis and Lawrence Forcell each hit two 3-pointers to give Donaldsonville a 28-13 advantage heading to the second.

There, the Tigers got a little sloppy on offense, and their defense became lax. It allowed Patterson to cut the deficit to nine.

But that’s as close as the Lumberjacks would ever get.

Donaldsonville quickly put together an 8-0 run that swelled the lead to 17. The Tigers eventually carried a 46-32 advantage into the break.

Despite the big lead, the Tigers didn’t come out complacent to begin the second half. In fact, they came out laser focused.

Malik Robertson scored eight straight points to stretch the Donaldsonville lead to 23. Later, Troy Cole came up with a steal and finished with a huge breakaway dunk that pushed the lead to 26.

The Tigers led, 74-45, heading to the fourth quarter.

A layup by Oatis pushed the advantage to 31 in the final period. The Tigers eventually rolled to a 39-point victory.

In the win, Cole led the way for Donaldsonville with 23 points. Robertson scored 14, and Oatis netted 12.

Forcell scored 18. Before the game, he was honored for scoring 1,000 career points.

“He’s been a big part of our growth as a program,” Gilbert said. “This is his fourth year and he’s really developed and bought in to where we’re trying to take this program. He’s a hard-working kid, he’s humble and he loves playing basketball. He’s not a real vocal guy, but he leads by example. He means a lot to our team. We’re going to miss him when he leaves, but we’re going to enjoy him while he’s here.”

The win was the eighth straight for the Tigers, and it improved their overall record to an outstanding 25-4.

Most importantly for Donaldsonville, the blowout win over Patterson kept them undefeated in district play. 

If the Tigers beat Lutcher in Tuesday’s matchup, they will win the District 9-3A title outright. If they win one of their two remaining league games, they will win at least a share of the championship.

“We’ve had great preparation. Our pre-district schedule was competitive, and we’ve seen everything; we’ve been through the fire,” Gilbert said. “We’ve faced adversity. We’ve been down in games and made big runs to come back, we’ve been up big, but then had to fight until the end. But I think we’ve hit our stride at the right time. We’re putting all the pieces together.”