From the Sidelines

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, January 26, 2000

MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / January 26, 2000

“It’s all about working hard and having fun.”Those were the words of Hahnville’s Harold Comminie after the Tigers’ 57-42 victory over South Lafourche Friday night. And because the Hahnville playersare doing the former, they are getting to do the latter more and more often this season.

Hahnville currently sits atop the District 7-5A standings with a 5-0 record.

The Tigers are ranked 11th in the state in Class 5A with a 15-3 overall record.

Heady stuff for a team that lost 19 games just two seasons ago.

The architect of that turnaround has been Alvin Gauthier. Gauthier, who ledCohen to four state championships before coming to Hahnville prior to the 1998-99 season, has a simple for success – defense, defense, defense.

“We talk about defense,” Comminie, who led the Tigers Friday night with 24 points, said. “Defense comes first, than offense. We might spend 15minutes in practice on offense. We practice defense, defense, defense.”Comminie has been through the hard times. But he said the players do notwant to dwell on those years, not with work still having to be done this year.

“We’re not looking last year,” Comminie said. “We’re looking at the present,focusing on the present.”The present is looking bright, especially after the hard-fought victory over the Tarpons at home Friday. South Lafourche might not be the team it hasbeen in the past when it won four straight district titles and advanced to the state finals two straight years but it was still the team to beat until somebody did so.

“That’s South Lafourche, it’s going to be hard,” Comminie said after Friday’s game. “They’ve been the district champions the past couple of years. Wehad to play hard and we did what we had to do. We still have to go to theirplace and it’s hard to win there.”Hahnville defeated the defending district champions because it did what it does best – play defense. The Tigers took a 25-20 lead into the lockerroomat halftime, holding the Tarpons to 37 percent from the field in the half.

After South Lafourche pulled to within 33-32 late in the third quarter, a steal by Corey Woods led to a layup by Carl Raymond and a four-point advantage going into the fourth quarter.

Aaron Alexander then took over in the middle, blocking two shots and grabbing a rebound on the Tarpons’ first possession of the fourth quarter. Asteal by Woods a possession later led to a layup by Dawan Landry and an eight-point lead with 7:18 left.

Two possessions later, Alexander blocked another shot and forced a loose ball that was picked up by Mark Temple. Alexander then hustled back to putback a miss by Comminie that built the lead to 10 with 6:26 remaining.

That sequence was a prime example of what Gauthier means when he says the Tigers’ best offense is often its defense.

“The kids know what we want on the defensive end,” Gauthier said. “Theybelieve they can win by playing defense.”The Tigers are doing both right now. And if they continue to so, the future inthe Hahnville gym will look as bright as the present.

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