By GEORGE MAHL – Sports Editor

LUTCHER- The first time Lutcher and E.D. White played, the Bulldogs shot a terrible 12 percent from the field. Tuesday night they were determined not to let it happen to them again. With four players scoring in double figures, the Bulldogs easily dismantled E.D. White 79-43 before a large crowd in Lutcher.

“We had some advantages over them in the first game that we did not use,” said Lutcher Head Coach Mike McNamara. “I thought tonight we used them.”

An early 8-0 Lutcher lead quickly evaporated thanks to back-to-back three-pointers courtesy of Joe Stock to cut the Cardinals deficit to 8-6 with 4:19 to play.

A close and competitive first quarter ended with the Bulldogs leading 14-10.

Lutcher started to pull away from the Cardinals in the second quarter.

An 8-2 run during the first four minutes of the second quarter led to Lutcher holding a 22-14 lead with 4:06 left until halftime. E.D. White guard Clay Badeaux supplied all of the offense, scoring all nine of the Cardinals’ points in the second period. Holding a 22-16 lead, Rolando Melancon drilled a three-point bucket to give the Bulldogs a 25-16 lead with 3:41 left to play in the second quarter. Melancon had 10 points in the second quarter alone.

His second three-point-shot gave the Bulldogs a 30-16 lead with 2:28 left to play until halftime. After another three-point basket by Badeaux, the Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run to end the half.

Lutcher led E.D. White at halftime 36-19. Melancon and Trenton Marshall led all scorers at halftime with 10 points each.

The third quarter saw everything the Bulldogs put up going in. In addition, the Cardinals did not score its first field goal until 2:36 remaining in the third quarter. E.D. White only managed to score 10 points in the third quarter.

An amazing 21-0 run by Lutcher to start the third quarter led the Bulldogs to jump on top to an insurmountable 57-19 lead with about two minutes left in the third quarter. Several of the Bulldog points occurred when they ran the fast break. Gerard Landry led the Bulldogs in scoring the third quarter with nine points.

Lutcher outscored the Cardinals 29-10 in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter was more of the same, easy baskets for the Bulldogs.

Even though it was an important victory for Lutcher, McNamara is not overlooking things.

“We are in the drivers seat right now, but we still have to play St. Charles (Catholic) and St. James. This is not over,” he said.