Tom Dodge
By Tom Dodge
Sports Editor
St. Edmund jumped out to a 19-2 first quarter lead as the Lady Jays cruised to a 55-21 win over St. Frederick’s in the opening round of the LHSAA Division IV playoffs.
It was the first playoff win since 2013 when St. Edmund advanced to the Class 1-A quarterfinals.
The No. 15 Lady Jays (11-16) will travel to No. 2 Houma Christian (26-2) 6 p.m. Monday.
The Lady Warriors (7-25) scored first on a bucket by Tamara Brown before the Lady Jays’ explosion began sparked by 10 points from Gabby Fontenot.
Kinsley Marcantel’s trey in the closing minute pushed the Lady Jays’ lead to 17 points.
St. Edmund’s domination continued in the second period as the Lady Jays made a 12-0 run, aided by four points by Savannah DeVillier along with buckets from Marcantel, Camille Leger and Abby Miller.
Lady Warrior Bronwen Maddox hit a free throw to close the gap to 31-3 with 2:37 left in the first half.
Miller then scored four straight points and Mary Beth LaFleur scored off a jumper to give the Lady Jays a 40-5 lead.
Tamara Brown scored off a steal with five seconds left to close the gap to 40-7 at intermission.
St. Frederick battled for a 10-9 lead in the third period.
DeVillier and Maddox exchanged buckets to open the third frame before Fontenot scored five straight points to push the Jays ahead, 47-11.
The Lady Warriors closed the third period with a 6-2 run sparked by four points from Sarah Loftin.
St. Edmund extended its lead to 51-17 on a jumper by Lafleur before Maddox hit two free throws for the Lady Warriors.
Lafleur hit two more free throws and Rebecca Benoit scored on a put-back to increase the Lady Jays’ lead to 55-19.
Loftin hit two free throws in the final seconds to close the final to 55-21.
Fontenot led the Lady Jays with 15 points, while DeVillier chipped in 12 points.