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MIDLAND – For the better part of three quarters Saturday, the Rayne Wolves could do no wrong and the Midland Rebels had trouble doing anything right.

The Wolves dominated the Rebels in every phase of the game in the first three frames, forcing over 20 turnovers in taking a 34-24 advantage into the fourth and final period.

“They (Rayne) outplayed us the entire night and the last thing I told our guys in the fourth quarter was that we had nothing left to lose ‘so lets go out there and steal a win,’ ” said Midland coach Todd Briley.

And that’s exactly what his Rebels did.

The Rebels rallied in the final two minutes, forcing five turnovers during a 16-4 run that allowed them to slip away with an improbable 44-43 victory in the final game of the Midland Holiday Spectacular.

“We just picked up the intensity, we made plays and we just made it happen,” said Briley, whose team went 4-0 in the tournament and improved to 16-6 on the season. “We got tips, we got deflections, we hit some shots and then those guys (Rayne) got rattled.”

The rally began with Jake Gautreaux’s 3-pointer with 1:53 remaining that got the Rebels within eight (39-31). Less than 10 seconds later, following a missed shot by Rayne, Randy Primeaux sank two free throws to cut the lead to 39-33.

The Rebels then forced three straight turnovers that resulted in six straight points to tie the game at 39-39 with 40 seconds remaining.

Each team added a free throw within seconds of each other and Rayne had the ball at midcourt with 17 seconds remaining following a timeout.

That’s when Randy Primeaux made the play of the game.

Primeaux stepped in front of Michael Henry on the Wolves’ inbounds play and stole the ball before driving in for the go-ahead layup.

Rayne then drove the length of the court but missed a layup and had to foul Devin Gautreaux with 4.4 seconds remaining. Gautreaux sank both free throws to increase the lead to 44-40.

Henry answered with a halfcourt shot at the buzzer to cut the losing deficit to one.

“That was an unbelievable comeback,” said Briley. “We just made plays.

“I’ve heard stories from when dad (Clyde Briley) coached and they came back like that with hardly no time, but we witnessed it tonight. This is one that will probably be talked about for a long time.”

Jake Gautreaux led the Rebels with 16 points and Alan Vondenstein had 11. Darren Arceneaux and Randy Primeaux each added six points, Stephen Primeaux had three and Devin Gautreaux had two.

Dannie Harmon and Henry paced the Wolves with 16 and 13 points, respectively.

Lady Pios blow out 

tourney hosts

  The Notre Dame Lady Pios broke open a tight game in the second quarter with a 31-point outburst and cruised to an 81-49 victory over the Midland Lady Rebels Saturday evening.

Madelyn LeJeune was 6-for-6 from the free throw line and led the Lady Pios with 22 points. Gabbie Romero followed with 19, Alex Miller had 13 and Sam Lyons added 10.

Also contributing in the victory were Katherine Kirsch, six points; Liddy Rothermel and Hannah Esthay, eacj four and Elise LeBeouf, three.

Bethany LeJeune had the hot hand for  Midland with 17 points.  Kristen Breaux and Brooke Comeaux each scored eight;  Katie Woods and Melody Hebert added seven each and Kallie Benoit had two.

St. Thomas More cruises 

past Lady Dogs

St. Thomas More jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in a 68-38 rout of the Iota Lady Bulldogs Saturday evening.

Paije Hall paced the Lady Courgars with 24 points and Payton Walker had 12.

Iota was led by Mallory Faul and Brittany Johnson with 12 and  nine points, respectively.

Jillian Boone followed with six points, Paige Soirez and Madison Smith added five points each and Cambri St. Andre had one.

Crowley tops Iowa

PRAIRIE RHONDE – The Crowley Gents rounded out play in the Northwest Holiday Tournament with a 52-42 victory over District 4-3A foe Iowa Saturday in the consolation game.

The Gents trailed by seven in the first quarter but they went on a 17-3 run in the second frame to take a 25-18 advantage at the break.

From there, each team scored 12 points in the third and the Gents outscored the Jackets 15-12 in the fourth.

The Gents had three players score in double figures on the night. Damon Malbrough led the charge with 14 points while Jessie Harmon added 11 and Danny Malbrough had 10.

Andre Mills scored nine points, Jeremy Thomas had six and Charles Onezine finished with two.