Tom Dodge
OPELOUSAS – St. Edmund put up a vallient effort but the undersized and out-manned Blue Jay squad wore down against the Vikings as Opelousas Catholic earned a 83-49 win in the opening round of the LHSAA Division IV boys basketball playoffs.
The game started well for the Blue Jays as St. Edmund took a 15-12 lead into the second period.
After Caleb Rubin converted a three-point play fot the Vikings, St. Edmund’s Kieran Davis scored in the lane.
Rubin scored on a put-back bucket, but Luke Trahan then put in three straight free throws to tie the game.
Alex Dupre later added a three-point play as St. Ed’s grabbed a 8-5 advantage midway through the quarter.
After OC tied the game, Trahan’s jumper gave the Jays a 10-8 lead.
OC’s Ronal Patin hit a trey and Rubin later added a free throw as the Vikings moved ahead, 12-10.
St. Edmund closed the period with a 5-0 run aided by a trey from Dupre and a put-back by Davis.
Opelousas Catholic regrouped as the Vikings opened the second period with a 6-0 run before Dupre’s three free throws forced an 18-18 tie with 5:50 left before intermision.
Back-to-back buckets by OC’s Donovan Green and Xavier Jackson pushed the Vikings back ahead.
Dupre and Henry Brown drilled treys to give the Jays a 24-22 lead with 4:28 left in the period.
OC surged ahead with an 11-0 run, punctuated by the first of three Keon Coleman slam dunks.
Ian Dupre scored on the lane with 1:07 left to close the gap to 34-26.
After Green’s drive with 21 seconds left, Coleman hit a lay-up at the buzzer as OC took a 38-26 lead into the locker room.
The Vikings exploded for a 10-0 run to open the third period before Davis scored on a put-back bucket for the Jays.
After another Coleman dunk, Davis again scored in the lane as the Jays closed the gap to 50-30.
OC finished the third period with an 11-1 run before Brown scored in the lane with 29 seconds left to close the margin to 61-33.
St. Ed’s battled in the fourth quarter scoring 16 points, begun when Dupre and Davis scored in the lane, while the Jays added four free throws and a three-point play by Garrett Dubois.
OC hit treys by Jackson and Kevin Witz to put the game away as the Vikings led 79-45 with 3:00 left.
The rest of the contest was spent at the free throw line, except for a three-point play by OC’s Cameron Levier with 39 seconds remaining.
St. Edmund senior Alex Dupre led the Jays with 16 points, while Davis added 15 points.
Coleman led OC with 19 points, while Patin pushed in 17 points, and Green contributed 15 points.
The No. 3 Vikings, will play Friday in a home quarterfinal matchup against No. 6 Calvary Baptist .