Defense leads Houma Christian School over Sarah T. Reed in LHSAA girls basketball playoffs
Fresh off a successful regular season — albeit one shorter than many teams in Louisiana — Houma Christian girls basketball clinched a playoff spot in its first season under new coach Jamar Celestine. The Lady Warriors celebrated the dawn of the Celestine era with an LHSAA playoff win, their second consecutive season winning this late into February, as Houma Christian (13-4) defeated Sarah T. Reed (6-13) on Thursday night, 34-6.
On a night where neither offense kicked into gear, defenses for both sides dictated the pace. The Lady Warriors started the night with a defensive masterclass, shutting out Sarah T. Reed through the first quarter. Not to be outdone, the Lady Olympians responded with a shutout of Houma Christian in the second, but the HCS defense held strong: STR was held to one basket in the first half.
In the second half, the Lady Warriors offense managed to step up at least a little, stretching a 12-point halftime lead to more than 20 in the fourth quarter while the Lady Olympians still struggled to find their footing on the offensive end of the court.
Early run sets tone
HCS raced out to a 14-0 lead after one quarter, and even as its offense sputtered, that gap proved to be sufficient. Even after scoring five combined points in the second and third quarters, the suffocating Lady Warriors defense only allowed STR to cut the deficit to 13 before the fourth.
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Pierce leads the way
Star senior Destiny Pierce kept her high school career alive for at least one more game with her performance Thursday night. Despite a slow start — only scoring one basket during that 14-0 run to begin the game — she finished with a game-high 18 points, double her next closest teammate and triple what Sarah T. Reed had as a team.
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They said it
"I'm very impressed with them," said Celestine about his team. "A lot of them haven't seen the playoffs before. This is a great experience for them in a great environment. I'm just very happy for them that they pulled this through."
What's next
Houma Christian will travel to 7-seed Glenmora in Division III select regional play on Monday.
This article originally appeared on The Courier: Defense leads HCS over Sarah T. Reed in LHSAA girls basketball playoffs
