What began as a low-scoring, defensive basketball game Friday night as #9-ranked Rayne High hosted Priestly Charter High School, ended with a run and gun contest as the Wolves captured an 88-61 bi-district win in the opening round of the 2010-2011 state basketball playoffs.

“If we can keep our heads in the ballgame, we can pull this off,” stated long-time Rayne High head coach Louis Handy prior to the start of the contest. “I’m anxious to see what game they bring tonight.”

The Wolves brought their winning game from the very start of the contest, jumping out in a full-court defense, converting turnovers into points, and clearing the boards on both sides of the court.

The downside of Friday’s bi-district win was the number of fouls collected by both squads. Wolf starter Freddie Broussard hit the bench in the very first quarter with three quick fouls. In addition, three Priestly players collected three fouls apiece before the half.

Behind a stingy press and sporadic shooting, the Wolves claimed a slim 17-11 lead in the first quarter, ending at the buzzer with a Darius Bonnom steal and assist to Ryan Larry for a bucket on the fast break.

The number of fouls affected the second quarter scoring as Priestly chipped in nine points at the charity stripe, pulling within 10 points to the Wolves.

But, once Handy’s crew settled in and starting running the offense, the Wolves extended their lead to 31-12 with only two minutes remaining in the first half of play.

A trey by Hunter Prejean, who also chipped in a couple of layups off the fast break, put the Wolves in a commanding lead with the first half coming to a close.Michael Henry hit a short jumper and Ryan Larry tapped in a rebound to closed out the first half leading, 37-23.

Seemed the halftime break was what the Wolves needed as they went on a scoring spree, scoring 20 quick points, mostly off their defense.

A couple of treys by Priestly helped their effort, but the Wolves kept a comfortable distance with a 65-39 lead heading into the final quarter.

As the final quarter began, the Priestly players began to fall, to fouls that is. Four starters could not complete the ballgame because of fouls.

As the Rayne lead grew, Coach Handy cleared the bench allowing his subs a few minutes of play. In addition to a dunk by Ryan Larry, Ian Papillion hit a trey, Dannie Harmon laid up a bucket and JV Bernard hit a short jumper to close out the game with an 88-61 win.

Larry led all scores with 22 points, followed by Darius Bonnom dumping in 19. Despite playing almost the entire ballgame with three early fouls, Freddie Broussard scored a dozen on the night, while Michael Henry hit 10, Dannie Harmon had nine and Hunter Prejean seven.