Tom Dodge
In the District 5-1A finale, the Basile Bearcats earned a sweep over the St. Edmund Blue Jays.
In the girls game, St. Edmund held a 33-28 lead heading into the fourth quater but Basile went on a 22-5 run in the final period to grab a 50-38 win.
Camille Leger scored five points in the first period including a trey to help the Lady Jays grab an 11-6 advantage.
The Lady Bearcats answered with a 12-11 second period surge, aided by five points by Kathryn Giles and four points from Nedasha Adams.
Gabby Fontenot led the Lady Jays in the second quarter with six points.
St. Edmund outscored the Lady Cats 11-10 in the third frame, led by four points from Leger.
After the Lady Jays held a 28-20 advantage, Basile’s Caitlyn Deshotel scored twice in the lane and Adams scored on an inbounds’ play to close the margin to 28-26 midway through the period.
Allison Lafleur drove the lane, while Abby Miller and Fontenot combined for three free throws to push the Lady Jays ahead by five points.
Basile opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run, sparked by six points from Adams as the Lady Cats grabbed a 35-33 lead with 6:10 left in the game.
Lady Jay Maggie Larriviere scored on a put-back bucket to force a tie, but Adams answered with a trey.
Buckets by Deshotel and Fournet and two free throws by Giles pushed the Lady Cats ahead, 44-35 with 2:11 left.
Lafleur scored on a lay-up amd Miller later added a free throw to help the Lady Jays pull closer, 44-38.
Giles hit two from the charity stripe in the closing minute to seal the 50-38 win for the Lady Cats.
Fontenot led St. Edmund (9-17, 5-5) with 12 points, while Leger contributed 11 points.
Adams led Basile with 16 points, while Deshotel added 12 and Giles chipped in 11 points.
Basile 60, St. Ed’s 43
The Bearcats exploded for a 23-8 second quarter run to break open a close game as Basile earned a 60-43 victory over St. Edmund.
Carter Andrus hit a trey to open the game for the Jays but Basile’s Jaylen Thomas pushed in two buckets.
Andrus then scored on a jumper to give the Jays a 5-4 lead.
Basile’s Rashad Murphy hit a jumper and Thomas added a free throw before Andrus drained another trey to push the Jays ahead, 8-7 with 3:06 left in the first period.
Austin Gradney drilled a trey for the Jays, but Thomas scored on back-to-back buckets and Dagan Lejeune drove the lane to give the Bearcats a 13-11 lead.
Andrus hit his third trey of the quarter to help the Jays, but Isiah Ceaser hit a jumper with two seconds left to lift Basile to a 15-14 advantage.
The Bearcats went on an 11-0 run to open the second period, aided by four points from both Lejeune and Bubba Reed.
Andrus scored in the lane with 4:57 left in the period to help the Jays close the gap to 25-16.
A 5-0 run by the Bearcats was stopped by trey from Blue Jay William Manuel.
Basile answered with points from Bret Ledoux and Abdul Milingo as the Bearcats pushed ahead, 35-20.
Alex Dupre and Christian Fontenot hit free throws on the final minute, but Bearcat Rashad Murphy hit a trey to give Basile a 38-22 lead at intermission.
The two teams battled to a 13-13 tie in the third period, begun by a trey from Gradney and a drive in the lane by Andrus sandwiched by four Bearcat points.
Dupre later hit a trey to help close the gap to 40-33.
After Milingo hit a jumper for the Cats, Andrus drilled another trey as the Blue Jays battled to stay in the game trailing 45-33.
A 5-0 Basile run was halted by a jumper from Andrus with 1:00 left in the quarter.
Rashawn Murphy hit free throw in the closing seconds to help the Bearcats take a 51-35 lead into the fourth quarter.
Milingo and Thomas scored early in the period for the Bearcats, but a trey from Gradney and an inside bucket by Fontenot closed the margin to 55-40.
A free throw by Reed combined by four points from Ceaser completed the Bearcats scoring.
Free throws by Gradney and Dupre finished the Blue Jays’ night.
Thomas led Basile with 15 points, while Lejeune and Milingo chipped in nine points each.
Andrus led the Jays 2-24, 0-10) with 18 points, while Gradney added 11 points.