Saints show composure, regroup to beat Lady K’s
Published 8:30 pm Wednesday, January 20, 2021
- Photo Credit
Rodrick Anderson
LONGVILLE — Early in its District 4-3A showdown Tuesday at South Beauregard, St. Louis Catholic was stuck in an offensive rut, struggling to put points on the board.
So the Saints took a breather with the scored tied 15-15, holding the ball for the final 2 minutes of the first half. The Saints managed to take the lead and surged ahead in the second half to beat the Lady K’s 53-30.
“We just had to get within our self,” St. Louis head coach Tony Johnson said. “We were going down jacking shots up and were not hitting many.
“So we just had to come down and settle our kids down. Nobody dictates what we do. We dictate ourselves, and that is what we started doing to pull away from them. We just have to keep getting better at the little things.
“We had to make some adjustments in the second quarter, slowing the ball down and not shooting because most of them have the green light to shoot the ball. I am very pleased at this stage of the game.”
Raven Guillory was fouled with 5 seconds left in the first half and made both free throws to send the Saints into the break with a 17-15 lead despite the Saints shooting 21.9 percent in the first half.
With South Beauregard heavily guarding the Saints’ top scorers — Myca Trail and Paris Guillory — Raven Guillory drilled a pair of 3-pointers early in the third quarter to put the Saints up 23-15. Guillory finished with 15 while Trail scored 15, and Parish Guillory finished with 11. Trail had six rebounds and four steals, and Paris Guillory had eight steals and five assists.
“Any given night, we have kids who can come out and score 20 points,” Johnson said. “Tonight, we had kids that stepped up.
“They played within our system. They were guarding Myca Trail and Paris Guillory pretty hard. The other kids stepped up. We are proud of the victory. This is a tough place to come in and win.”
The Saints (18-1, 3-0) won their 25th consecutive District 4-3A game and are in sole possession of first in the district.
St. Louis forced South Beauregard (13-3, 2-1) into 17 turnovers in the second half.
“Our defense helped our offense against tonight,” Johnson said. “Thirty points to South Beauregard, hey, that is a win every night. At their place on the road, that is a good thing.”
South Beauregard fell behind 4-0 early but took an 11-9 lead into the second quarter after Jalyn Williams banked in a jump shot with 1:22 left in the first quarter.
South Beauregard lost the lead on a fast break by Shelby Willis. Kayleigh Hudler tied the score at 15-15 on a 3-pointer with 2:18 left in the first half, but the Lady K’s couldn’t get the lead back. Hudler led the Lady K’s with nine points.
South Beauregard turned the ball over 12 times in the first half against the Saints’ full-court press.
“The game plan was one shot, block out and limit our turnovers,” South Beauregard head coach Susan Johnson said. “We made 12 turnovers in the first half.
“We have to work past the third-quarter blues. We have to learn how to play four quarters. We started venturing away from what we’re supposed to do. I don’t know if that is because they feed off of me. Maybe I got a little antsier. I will take ownership of that, but we have to take care of the basketball more.”
St. Louis 53
S. Beauregard 30
St. Louis (18-1, 3-0): Myca Trail 15, Raven Guillory 15, Paris Guillory 11. South Beauregard (13-3, 2-1): Kayleigh Hudler 9.
Rodrick Anderson/American Press
