By GEORGE MAHL – Sports Editor

LUTCHER- Lutcher guard Trenton Marshall may be only a freshman, but last Friday night he played like a senior. The Bulldog standout led all scorers with 30 points as the Bulldogs defeated Lawless 52-40 in the bi-district round of the playoffs.

“He is a freshman in terms of eligibility, but the fact that he has gone through a whole season makes him a sophomore,” said Lutcher Head Basketball Coach Mike McNamara.

The Bulldogs opened up an 11 point lead in the first quarter. Leading 6-5, the Bulldogs ran off 10 consecutive points to give them a 16-5 lead with 28 seconds remaining in the first period. Marshall had six points in the first quarter. Burnell Joseph’s three-point play made the score 15-5 with 1:02 left in the first quarter.

Throughout the second quarter, it appeared Marshall could not be stopped. Marshall and Landry were the only two players to score for Lutcher in the second quarter. In addition, after Landry made the first basket of the second quarter, Marshall went on to score eight straight points, giving the Bulldogs their largest lead of the game. His bank shot off the glass gave Lutcher its biggest lead thus far, 26-13, with 1:25 remaining in the first half.

The Lutcher defense stepped up in the second quarter as well, allowing only eight points.

The third quarter saw the Pythians get back into the game. They outscored the 10-3A champs 15-9. After a Lutcher basket expanded the lead to 32-19 with 5:13 remaining in the third period, Lawless went on a 5-0 run to trim the lead to 32-24 with 3:04 remaining in the third.

The eight point deficit was the closest the Pythians had come since early in the first quarter.

A basket by Marshall finally broke the four minute drought for the Bulldogs.

His field goal gave LHS a 35-26 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs began the fourth period by going on a 13-5 run. Landry and Marshall were largely responsible for the bulk of the points. Marshall scored 10 of the 13 points in the fourth quarter. In addition, he scored the first eight Bulldog points of the final period.

About the lone highlight for Lawless in the fourth quarter was a three-point bomb courtesy of Kevin Domino, making the score 51-36 Lutcher with about one minute left to play.

In addition to Marshall, Landry finished the game with 11 points.

“We had agood first half, but then we may have gotten a little lazy after that,” McNamara said afterward.

LHS played Newman Tuesday night.