Tom Dodge
After a slow start, St. Edmund used balanced scoring as the Lady Jays grabbed a 50-42 win over Basile in the season opener.
The Lady Bearcats jumped out to a 14-7 first quarter lead, sparked by six points from Frida Alvarez and four more by Shayla Lavergne.
St. Edmund tied the game twice in the period as Rebecca Benoit kept the Lady Jays in the game with five points in the quarter.
Trailing by seven points heading into the second frame, St. Edmund’s Mary Helen Miller scored three times in the lane and added a free throw to help the Lady Jays tie the game 14-14.
Buckets by Lainey Soileau and Alvarez along with a trey by Lavergne helped Basile hold a 21-17 lead late in the period.
Savannah DeVillier and Julia Zaunbrecher both scored on put-back buckets as the Lady Jays tied the game, 21-21.
Alvarez hit a free throw with 19 seconds remaining to give Basile a 22-21 advantage heading into the intermission.
Benoit’s six points helped the St. Edmund offense open the second half with an 8-4 run to push ahead, 27-24.
Back-to-back buckets by Soileau gave Basile a one point advantage, but a three-pointer by Tanzy Miller quickly pushed SEH back ahead, 32-30.
After a free throw by Lady Jay Mary Beth Lafleur, Basile’s Alvarez hit a jumper to close the Lady Jays’ lead to 33-32.
Zaunbrecher nailed a shot with three seconds left in the period to give the Lady Jays a 35-32 lead heading into the final quarter.
St. Ed’s Lafleur drilled a three-pointer early in the fourth period, while Soileau answered with a drive in the lane for the Lady Bearcats.
Alvarez hit two free throws, but Lafleur answered with two of her own at the charity stripe.
Basile closed the gap to 40-38 on a jumper by Alvarez, but Benoit hit two crucial free throws 45 seconds later to push the Lady Jays up by four points.
Soileau scored from the baseline as Basile battled to keep the game close.
The Lady Jays responded with a bucket by DeVillier and back-to-back treys from Lafleur and Miller to push St. Edmund aheadm 50-40.
Basile hit free throws from Soileau and Ryah Ashford in the final two minutes of the contest, but the Lady Jays held on for the 50-42 win.
Soileau led Basile with 15 points, while Alvarez added 14 points.
Lafleur and Benoit scored 13 points each to lead the Lady Jays, while Miller chipped in 12 points in the win.
St. Edmund (1-0) travels Crowley today before returning home for a match Tuesday against Iota.
Crowley (1-0) opened the season with a 63-27 win over Cecilia.
The Lady Bearcats (0-1) visit DeQuincy today before Monday’s home opener against Bunkie.