MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / January 6, 1999

DESTREHAN – Hahnville avenged a loss to Destrehan earlier in the season, stopping the Lady Cats’ inside game for a 47-31 victory in District 6-5A play Saturday night.

Keanna Bethencourt led the Lady Tigers (14-7, 2-0) with 16 points.

Stephanie Stipe and Toyelle Rickson each contributed 14 points.

Destrehan (14-5), which lost its second consecutive district game, was led by Imani Davis with 10 points. Diamondique Pollard added six pointswhile Joevone Markey contributed five. Kammi Darensbourg, the Lady Cats’leading scorer, was held to four points.

Hahnville lost to Destrehan, 62-50, in the championship game of the Lady Cats Classic in November but never trailed Saturday night, jumping out to a 7-0 lead. Bethencourt had two free throws and a 3-pointer from the leftarc and Stipe added two free throws before Destrehan got on the scoreboard with a put back by Markey at the 2:40 mark. The Lady Catsclosed to within 9-6 by the end of the quarter on another put back by Markey.

Hahnville extended its lead back to seven on a pass from Bethencourt to Stipe underneath and a jump shot by Rickson on the right baseline. After ajump shot by Pollard, Bethencourt grabbed a rebound and drove in from the left side. Bethencourt followed with two free throws, making it 17-8with 5:53 left in the first half.

Destrehan got its outside game clicking as Maren Cameron and Davis both hit 3-pointers from the right side. Davis followed with another jumperfrom the right side, bringing the Lady Cats to within one at the four minute mark. Hahnville answered with two free throws by Bethencourt, aput back by Rickson and a jumper by Stipe to take a 23-18 lead at halftime.

A 3-pointer by Karen Bass from the left side built the Lady Tigers’ lead to 26-19 with 4:18 left in the third quarter. Darensbourg helped the LadyCats rally to within three, passing to Pollard along the baseline and then taking a long pass from Amanda Spivey after a steal in for a layup.

Hahnville again pulled away, using two put backs by Rickson and a jump shot by Stipe on the left baseline to make it 32-23. Davis buried hersecond 3-pointer of the game from the left corner to cut the deficit to 32-26 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Lady Tigers would not let Destrehan get any closer, holding the Lady Cats to five points in the final eight minutes. Rickson drove in and hit ashort jumper on the right baseline and Stipe followed with two free throws to make it 36-26 with 6:49 left.

After Darensbourg hit a jump shot from the top of the key, Stipe followed with one of her own. Two possessions later, Bethencourt grabbed a steal,drove in from the left side for a layup and was fouled. Bethencourt hit thefree throw, giving the Lady Cats a 13-point lead with 4:46 left.

Destrehan pulled to within 11 on a jump shot by Quinna Sinceno but the Lady Tigers came back with a tip in by Rickson and a drive by Bethencourt to take a 45-30 lead with three minutes remaining in the game.

“The plan was for us to pack it up inside and make them beat us from the outside,” Hahnville coach Earl Oestriecher said. “Lucky for us, they didn’tshoot well tonight.”Oestriecher said the difference from the last time the Lady Tigers played at Destrehan was that they played more aggressively Saturday night and have gained more confidence over the six weeks since they played. Thatgrowth in confidence can also be seen in the improvement the team has made since last year.

“The difference from last year to this year is that they are a year older,” Oestriecher said. “One year makes a great difference in maturity andconfidence. They had good talent, they were just young last year.”Destrehan has been struggling lately since getting off to a fast start. TheLady Cats have lost three times since playing in the Pearl River tournament in mid-December.

“We haven’t been playing well lately,” Destrehan coach Ulysses Frontha said. “We have gotten into a slump and it is my job to get us out of it. Weare just not executing. We didn’t execute the press and we didn’t executeon offense or on defense. Nothing good came out of this game.”

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