DELCAMBRE — Behind 22 points from Thomas Jones, Delcambre kept its postseason hopes alive with a 64-48 win over Loreauville at home in District 7-2A action on Monday.

Jones poured in 15 points in the first half as the Panthers (13-15, 6-5) steadily pulled away after leading by 9 at intermission.

Kaleb Comeaux added 18 points, followed by point guard Jackson Wiggins (10) and forward Hayden Fredrick with 9.

“The offensive rebounding from our three big guys in particular — Thomas Jones, Kaleb Comeaux and Hayden Frederick — was outstanding,” DHS head coach Daniel Mestayer said.  

“The energy that came from the baseline of the court was just insane.  Offhand, I think we got between 14-20 points off offensive rebounds.  Our guys who didn’t score had a lot of assists.  As far as defending all parts of the court, we made them do that.”

Mestayer said his team’s defensive effort was the deciding factor.

“I think that was the key to getting our offense points,” he said.  “It was really our defense that turned it up.  We put ourselves in good spots on the court with pre-positioning, so they had to swing the ball multiple times in their rotation to get us to move.

“We were already matched up with them in decent spots.  We played a zone and always had help. That was nice to me, that we rotated well enough and sent them to help out.  That’s about all I can ask for with us playing defense in a zone.”

The Panthers expanded a five-point lead in the second quarter to 20 when a basket from Jones put the hosts up 43-23 with 2:45 remaining in the third.

Twins Calep and Collin Jacob scored 16 and 13 points for Loreauville (4-17, 1-10).

The win snapped a 3-game losing streak for Delcambre, which entered Monday’s contest ranked 37th in Class 2A.

“My expectation from day one has always been to do our best and at the end of the day, if it’s not enough, you know you won’t have any regrets,” Mestayer said.  “I don’t really talk about the playoffs too much with them because if that’s the paramount thought you have, you might forget about the game you have in front of you right now.

“We may win out where it doesn’t pan out and we’ll be just outside the top 32 teams.  Basically, I’m working with keeping the message and mindset consistent with these guys.  I think they need something to stick with, to find some consistency and find the ability to persist.  

“That’s what we’ve been doing this year.  They’re sticking around and making games winnable.  

“When they have the chance, they can now capitalize and make a 5-point win a 20-point win.”