Green Devils dominate neighbors, push 8-3A hoop mark to 5-0
Making use of their abilities to humble opponents with their dominant defensive skills, Plaquemine High’s Green Devils ran their District 8-3A boys’ basketball record to a perfect 5-0 with a pair of solid victories last week.
The PHS boys claimed a Friday night home victory over Hwy. 1 neighbor Brusly High by a 64-42 score to follow up on a 36-26 road victory earlier in the week at Port Allen High.
The Green Devils continued to force district foes into mistakes as they moved from a non-district 10-11 start to the hoop campaign to a 15-11 overall showing as this week’s league play continued.
“The team is improving and learning how to play together as a unit. We have come a long way from last summer when it looked like we would really struggle the entire season,” noted Coach Denny Wright early in the week before his PHS club tangled with the two West Baton Rouge Parish rivals. The cautious mentor added: “We still have a way to go. We have to win at home and on the road to take any sort of district honors. We have to be consistent.”
PHS 64, BRUSLY 42:
The hosting Green Devils jumped out to leads of 15-4 in the first quarter, 31-16 at halftime, and 46-24 after a trio of periods as they rolled to their second victory of the week.
Brusly found back in the final stanza, but the Panthers were nailed with 29 fouls as they attempted to keep the PHS club at bay. By the end of the game the visiting neighbors had four key players on the bench with fouls and the Green Devils took a 22-point victory.
The Panthers had no answer for 6-6 PHS senior Treveon Hawkins on the inside. The smooth-playing former North Iberville High Bear finished with a game-high 20 points and 12 rebounds, despite not scoring a single point in the second period. It was in the second stanza that tall inside teammate Xavier Osborne took control of the offensive end. He scored all 16 of Plaquemine’s points in the quarter, making all of the tallies from the free throw line as the BHS defense had to foul him to stop him. Amazingly, Osborne did not score a single point in the other three periods of play.
Backing Hawkins’ 20 and Osborne’s 16 was forward Jacorey Johnson with 11 points. Jesse Ward and Davon Godchaux tallied 6 points apiece, while guards Trevion Mosby and Cordarro Pierce hit 2 apiece.
Jay Christophe, the BHS season scoring leader, paced the Panther attack with 15 points, while Rico Governor tacked on 11 points.
PHS 36, PAHS 26
Using a defense that broke up the passing lanes and hustled hard, while Ward hit the net from long range and Hawkins soft-touched off the backboard for inside hoops, the Plaquemine boys boosted their 8-3A district leading mark to 4-0 Tuesday of last with their low-scoring, 10-point road win over an athletic Port Allen club.
Defense ruled throughout the first half as the PHS boys led only 19-14 at halftime. The hosting Pelicans cut into the lead in the third period as the Green Devils began the final period with a narrow 27-24 lead. But the final stanza belonged to Plaquemine. The Green Devils outscored the Pels 9-0 as they completely shut them down on offense and forced several late-game turnovers.
Ward paced the PHS offense with 13 points, including a trio of 3-point buckets. Hawkins was next in line with 11 points, while Mosby and Osborne netted 4 apiece. Johnson and Godchaux had 2 apiece.
Nicholas Parker, a former NIHS Bear teammate of Green Devils Hawkins, Ward, and Trevor and Treven Trusclair, led PAHS with 12 points.