SULPHUR — Barbe used stifling defense and balanced scoring to open District 3-5A play Friday night with a 51-29 win over Sulphur.

The win was the 10th in a row for the Bucs (15-4, 1-0).

The Bucs opened the game with an 11-4 run, turning Tors turnovers into fast-break baskets. Mikaylah Manley scored Barbe’s first seven points.

Sulphur (10-14, 0-1) rallied with Reece Martin and Emma Thomson combing for 13 points in the half. The Tors got within four points by the end of the first quarter, but were held scoreless over the first 5 minutes of the second quarter as the Bucs extended their lead to 11 points midway through the quarter.

Barbe took control with a 9-2 run to start the fourth quarter, extending its lead to 17 points.

Areil Williams led the Bucs with 13 points. Megan Colston added 12 on four 3-pointers. Manley finished with 10.

Thomson led Sulphur with 12 points while Martin finished with 11.

Boys

Barbe 57, Sulphur 49

Barbe pulled away in the second half.

It was the sixth consecutive win for Barbe (18-2, 1-0) and snapped Sulphur’s (16-8, 0-1) eight-game winning streak.

Jabari Barry led Barbe with 22 points, sprinkling in assists between swoops to the basket and long-range bombs.

The Bucs took control in the third quarter, outscoring the Tors 23-12 after the teams played an even first half.

Barry opened the quarter with a 3-pointer to give Barbe the lead for good and capped it with a driving basket to put Barbe up by double digits.

“They did a really good job of putting pressure on us in the first half and taking us out of what we have been doing,” Barbe head coach Carl Klein said.

“In the second half, we were able to get going, set good screens to get guys open and got into transition to get baskets that way.”

Ethan Marque scored 10 for the Bucs in the third quarter.

“Jabari had it going early, and it is a complement to the other guys that they were able to find him and get the ball to him,” Klein said. “The other thing is he was able to get a lot of the other guys involved. When we needed a big basket we were able to come up with it tonight.”

J.D. LaFleur led Sulphur with 21 points and 14 rebounds. He scored 19 in the second half.

Baskets were hard to come by in a physical first half that ended tied at 16. Barry scored 11 in the half for Barbe, including every point in an 8-3 game-opening run.

Sulphur rallied back behind the shooting of Landon Trahan, who drilled three 3-pointers and scored 11 in the first half.