Tom Dodge
VILLE PLATTE – French Settlement jumped out to a 19-9 first quarter lead as the Lady Lions rolled to a 63-39 win over St. Edmund Wednesday in the Turkey Tournament held at Sacred Heart of Ville Platte.
The Lady Jays (3-1) will entertain Kaplan at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
French Settlement (6-0) opened the first quarter with a 10-2 run, aided by back-to-back treys from Dannah Martin.
Savannah DeVillier hit two free throws for the first Lady Jay points of the game.
Mary Beth LaFleur later hit a free throw and also scored from the baseline as the Lady Jays closed the gap to 13-5.
French Settlement’s Serenity Smith drilled a pair of treys around a drive in the lane by Lady Jay Kinsley Marcantel.
Lafleur hit two free throws with five seconds left in the period as the Lady Jays closed the margin to 19-9.
Lady Lion Smith converted a three-point play to open the second period, but Rebecca Beniot answered with four points as the Lady Jays battled to close the margin to 22-13 with 6:30 left.
French Settlement then exploded for a 16-0 run, aided by eight points from Smith as the Lady Lions moved ahead 38-13.
St. Edmund would not go away quietly as the Lady Jays closed the half with a 7-0 run including a put-back by Benoit and a trey at the buzzer by Marcantel.
French Settlement entered the intermission with a 38-20 advantage and the Lady Lions began the third period with a 14-0 run to put the game away.
Martin drained two treys and Smith added another as French Settlement pushed ahead, 52-20 midway through the third frame.
St. Edmund again regrouped for a 9-1 run to close the third quarter.
Lafleur floated in a trey, Marcantel followed with a long range shot and DeVillier scored off an inbound’s pass as the Lady Jays closed the gap to 54-29 as the game moved to the fourth quarter.
DeVillier scored twice to begin the final period and Marcantel hit two free throws as the Lady Jays closed the margin to 54-35 with 5:23 left.
Smith hit three free throws and Mae Babin followed with four points the Lady Lions increased their lead to 58-35 midway through the period.
Marcantel hit two from the charity stripe, but Martin’s trey pushed French Settlement ahead 61-37.
Marcantel went the distance through the Lady Lion defense for a lay-up with 1:15 left, but a drive in the lane by French Settlement’s Gracelyn Sibley sealed the 63-39 win.
Martin led the Lady Lions with 21 points.
Smith added 20 points and Babin chipped in 16 points.
Marcantel finished with 14 points to lead the Lady Jays.
Lafleur contributed 10 points and DeVillier added nine points in the loss.
In the 49-43 win over Crowley to open the tournament, Benoit scored 18 points, while Lafleur chipped 15 points and Marcantel added eight points.
St. Edmund then earned a 56-52 overtime win over Basile, led by Marcantel’s 14 points.
Lafleur contributed 10 points and DeViller scored nine points for the Lady Jays.
St. Edmund will participate in the annual Elton tournament as the Lady Jays will take on Westlake at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.
With a win, the Lady Jays woud take on host Elton at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
A loss puts St. Ed’s into the consolation game at 9 a.m. Saturday.