MOSS BLUFF — In a battle of top-10 teams, Lafayette played a physical fast-paced game and took advantage of Barbe’s early foul trouble to win 67-45 Friday night.

“I am not blaming it on anybody,” Barbe head coach Joseph DiGiglia said. “We have to get a little better on that part (fouls). That is us. Foul trouble hurt us, especially late in the first (quarter), and we couldn’t be as aggressive.

“There are some mistakes we can fix. That is what playing a great team exposes. Now we have to go back to the film and get better. The main thing is we played hard and competed, and that is really what we are looking for.”

The loss dropped the Bucs (17-6, 2-1) out of a three-way tie for first in District 3-5A. They trail Lafayette (22-4, 3-0) and Southside (17-8, 3-0) by a game. The Sharks beat New Iberia (12-8, 0-3) 67-42 Friday to extend their win streak to 15.

Four of the Bucs’ starters had three or more fouls, and top scorer Mikaylah Manley fouled out with 6:39 left in the third quarter with the Bucs trailing 42-29. Manley picked up her third foul with 3:08 left in the first quarter on an offensive charge, and a fourth seconds before the end of the first half.

“Everyone has their theory on it,” DiGiglia said about leaving Manley in the game. “Our key players had foul trouble. I kept them in.

“Two of them did not foul out, and one did. I roll with my girls and I trust them. In big games, foul trouble can really affect things.”

Manley had 10 re-bounds before exiting the game, but the Lions held her to five points.

Jahniya Brown led the Lions with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Chrysta Narcisse had 19 points and seven rebounds.

With the Bucs in foul trouble, the Lions kept up the pressure with a man-to-man defense, forcing the Bucs into 10 first-quarter turnovers.

“We have handled it (man-to-man defense) well all year,” DiGiglia said. “I thought there were times we could have handled it better tonight

“We have to handle the pressure. We played good defense, but we were inconsistent with some of our footwork. A couple of times we didn’t box out. It is all very correctable errors. There are nothing but positives coming from this. It was a good opportunity to play in a big game, and hopefully, we will get another one.”

The Bucs led 4-2 after a pair of free throws by Areil Williams but never regained the lead after the Lions went up 10-6 on a bucket in the lane by Grace Paul with 4:55 left in the first quarter. Williams led Barbe with 17 points and nine rebounds.

Barbe started the second half with a pair of free throws by Maya Guillory and a bucket in the lane from McKenzie Davis to get within 21-19. But Lafayette went on a 13-2 run to pull away.

Boys

Barbe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75

Lafayette . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

MOSS BLUFF — The Bucs won their 10th consecutive game to the district’s top spot.

Ja’quise Richmond (20) and Jabbari Barry (21) topped 20 points for the Bucs.

The Bucs led 12-7 after the opening quarter. The Lions closed within nine points midway through the second quarter, but the Bucs finished the half on a 13-2 run and opened the second half with a 17-2 run.