The homecourt advantage in basketball is big, but it wasn’t too big for the girls teams from Natchitoches Central and St. Mary’s to overcome Monday night In second-round state playoff games.
Ninth-seeded NCHS ran off 16 unanswered points in the third quarter to take control in a comeback 50-33 victory at eighth-ranked Destrehan.
The Lady Chiefs trailed 22-21 at halftime but clamped down on defense afterward, raising their record to 21-8. In 12 seasons led by coach Nikki Jones, NCHS is 26-12 in playoff games and will be aiming at a fifth trip to Marsh Madness.
St. Mary’s and fifth-seeded St. Edmond swapped the lead repeatedly in Eunice in a Select Division IV contest that went to overtime. The Lady Tigers outscored the Blue Jays 12-7 in the extra period behind hard-nosed play from the entire team, with Ava Hebert’s 25 points and 18 by Ava Holland topping the scorebook in their 65-60 victory.
The 21st-seeded Lady Tigers, who won their first road playoff game in five years last week at Central Catholic, made it two in a row and improved their overall record to 10-16 under first-year coach Layne Huckabay.
The local teams will play state quarterfinal games back on the road Thursday, hoping to rekindle their magic and advance to next week’s Marsh Madness state semifinals in Hammond.
NCHS will visit top-seeded Zachary (28-3). St. Mary’s goes to Ruston to play No. 4 Cedar Creek (21-8).
