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LEROY – The Rayne Lady Wolves used a stifling defense and a strong inside game to slip past Midland, 73-67, in the two teams’ opening game of the North Vermilion Holiday Tournament Monday evening.

The Lady Wolves’ pressure defense forced the Lady Rebels into an uncharacteristic 36 turnovers on the night.

“We wanted to use our press to get some easy buckets and that’s what happened tonight,” said RHS coach Chester Randell, whose team started the season at 1-0 for the first time in five years.

However, when the Lady Wolves weren’t scoring in transition, they were banging it down low to post player Naosha Leopaul.

And the senior forward didn’t disappoint.

The Lady Rebels had no answer for Leopaul, who poured in a game-high 28 points.

“Naosha is a senior this is pretty much what we expect of her,” said Randell. “The strength of our team is our post play so we’re going to feed her all game.”

Despite the early struggles, Midland managed to keep the game within reach and went into the fourth quarter trailing 58-45.

The Lady Rebels had their highest offensive output in the final frame when they outscored Rayne 22-15, but it was too little, too late.

Despite missing action late in the game due to foul trouble, Leopaul managed nine rebounds as well. As a team, the Lady Wolves pulled down 18 offensive rebounds and converted nearly every one into second-chance points.

“We might have turned the ball over a few times, but we did get the ball down the court enough and we got scores,” said MHS coach Joanna Tate, whose team fell to 3-4 with the loss. “But when you don’t get stops, it’s hard to win a game.

“Offensive rebounds killed us. When it comes down to a crucial part of the game and you’re not getting offensive rebounds, it’s tough.”

Rayne’s Tristan Mouton and Tori Carriere also scored in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Tanner Wilson and Charlesha Dugas each added seven points and Zierra Gabrielle had five. Whitley Larry and Cierra Harmon rounded out the Lady Wolves’ offensive outburst with two points each.

Midland was led by Kristen Breaux and Melody Hebert with 23 and 16 points, respectively.

Katie Woods added 12 points, Brooke Comeaux had seven, Elizabeth Istre had three and Macy Hoffpauir, Kelli Benoit and Nicole Kraut each had two.

Lady Dogs 28, Erath 25

The Iota Lady Bulldogs outscored Erath 10-5 in the fourth quarter and avoided a season-opening setback with a 28-25 victory over the Lady Bobcats Monday evening in the opening round of the North Vermilion Holiday Classic Tournament.

“I knew that we were better than what we showed early in the game,” said IHS first-year head coach Meghann LeJeune. “I knew that they (Lady Dogs) had the potential to pull it out at the end, I was just waiting for them to turn it on.”

Iota trailed for most of the contest, but they rallied to tie the game at 25-25 with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. A minute later, foward Taylor DeVille drove the lane for a layup and then converted on a foul shot to give the Lady Dogs a three-point cushion.

DeVille blocked a shot on Erath’s ensuing possession and the Lady Dogs got two more stops to end the game.

“The last two minutes was probably the most solid two minutes that we played the whole game,” said LeJeune. “We let them kind of control the tempo the whole game and they kind of had us flustered.

“We weren’t really playing much offense; we played a lot of defense in this game. It was just exciting to pull it out.”

Brittany Johnson and Jillian Boone each scored nine points in the victory. Mallory Faul had five points to go along with a game-high 17 rebounds and three steals and DeVille finished with four points, six rebounds and five blocks.

 Alexis St. Andre rounded out the scoring with one point.

Catholic High Tourney

NEW IBERIA – The Notre Dame Lady Pios rallied from an early deficit by scoring 20 points in the second quarter en route to a 53-38 victory over Hanson in the opening game of the Catholic High Tournament Monday afternoon.

The Lady Pios trailed 13-9 after the opening frame, but they rallied in the second quarter to take a 30-22 advantage behind nine points from senior guard Alex Miller.

From there, it was all Notre Dame as the Lady Pios went on to outscore Hanson, 24-15 in the second half.

Miller led all scorers with 15 points, while Liddy Rothermel pitched in 11. Maddlyn LeJeune followed with nine points, Gabbie Romero added seven, Sam Lyons had six, Hanna Esthay had four and Elise LeBeouf had one.

The Lady Pios took on host Catholic High in the semifinals yesterday and with a victory, will play in the finals today at 2 p.m.

WESTLAKE TOURNEY

WESTLAKE – The Crowley Gents kept it close early, but in the end, Class 5A Barbe was just too much.

The Bucs went on a 23-7 run in the second quarter and coasted from there, downing the Gents, 71-44, in the Westlake Tournament Monday morning.

The second-half surge gave Barbe a 35-19 advantage at the break and the Bucs went on to outscore the Gents 36-25 in the final two quarters.

Danny Malbrough paced the Gents with 18 points.  His twin brother, Damon, had nine. John Davis pitched in five points, Jeremy Thomas added four and Charles Onezine had three. Jessie Harmon and Andre Mills each scored two points and Tiron Foreman had one.

Crowley took on Hamilton Christian yesterday, but results were not available at press time.

Teurlings 63, ND 32

LAFAYETTE – The Notre Dame Pioneers came up on the short end of the stick Monday as they fell to host Teurlings in the first round of the Chick-fil-A Thanksgiving Round Robin.

The Rebels took a 13-point lead at the half and broke the game open in the third quarter by outscoring the Pios 21-9.

Notre Dame managed just four points in the final frame.

Jacob LeLeux and Tre Milstead led the Pios with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Hunter Meche added five points; John Duos scored two and Boedy Borill rounded out the Pios’ scoring with one.

Notre Dame will wrap up the tournament today when they take on Church Point at 4 p.m. and David Thibodeaux High School at 7.

STM 69, Midland 48

LAKE CHARLES – Midland put up a fight, but Class 4A perennial power St. Thomas More had too much fire power.

The Cougars jumped out to a 21-12 advantage in the first quarter and outscored the Rebels 36-23 heading into the final frame.

Midland went on to outscore the Cougars 13-12 in the fourth.

Jake Gautreaux was the high-point man for the Rebels with 18 points. Darren Arceneaux followed close behind with 16 points. He also had nine rebounds and five assists.

Alan Vondenstein pitched in eight points to go along with seven rebounds and one block and Devin Gautreaux scored six points.