Datayvious Gabriel

ST. MARTINVILLE — Datayvious Gabriel’s 26-point effort carried St. Martinville to a 67-53 win over No. 22 Donaldsonville in a Class 3A boys bi-district playoff game on Friday.

On Tuesday, the No. 11 Tigers (20-9) will travel to Ville Platte in the regionals to test the No. 6 Bulldogs (19-5), who thumped No. 27 Brusly by a 77-61 margin.

Andrew Savoy collected 13 points with Jalen Mitchell and Devontre Alexander each adding 1O for SMHS, which raced to a 16-0 lead vs. Donaldsonville.

“Our defense was poor,” St. Martinville coach Ihmaru Jones said. “We had a 16-point lead to start the game, and then we got lazy with it.”

Although the Tigers held a 15-point lead at the half and a 9-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter, Donaldsonville battled back to trim the deficit to 54-51 with less than three minutes remaining.

“We were playing good defense,” Mitchell said. “Our intensity dropped some in the second half, but in the first half we played amazing defense.

“That wasn’t our best effort in the second half. We got tired and fatigued. We can’t do that in the next round.”

Gabriel locked down the victory with three consecutive baskets that put SMHS up 60-51 with 90 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

“That was huge,” Jones said. “DG didn’t settle for the 3. He bounced the ball and got closer for a higher-percentage shot.”

Midway though the fourth, Jones scolded his squad for launching too many 3-point attempts.

“Everything was clicking early,” he said. “Then in the third quarter, we took three bad 3-point shots. No. 2 (Mitchell), No. 11 (Gabriel) and No. 24 (Tanner Harrison) all took one.

“We have to drive to the basket. We’re settling for 3’s when we could get a better shot. The better shot may be to take one dribble and then pull up for a jumper. You saw D.G. hit three like that in the fourth quarter.”

Mitchell collected all of his points in the first half, which ended with the Tigers up 34-19.

“I wasn’t really looking to score in the second half,” Mitchell said. “I was trying to slow the game down and finish it off. In the first half, I knew I had to come out aggressive.

“The key against Ville Platte will be our substitutes. They’re going to have to come in and do their jobs. Our starting five can’t play the whole game with the same intensity.”

Gabriel, who fired in 10 points in the fourth, echoed Mitchell’s comments.

“We can’t play like that against Ville Platte,” Gabriel said. “We’ll have to step it up. We’ll need to play better defense, take better shots and not get beat on the dribble.”

Mitchell was able to thwart Donaldsonville’s full-court press down the stretch. The visiting Tigers (8-8) got 24 points from Rayien Oatis and 15 from Lawrence Forcell.

“Mitchell really controlled the game like a point guard is supposed to do,” Gabriel said.

“Jalen got a little fatigued and was getting the ball to the other guys,” Jones said. “He had some big assists.

“I feel very, very comfortable with the ball in his hands. I think once the fatigue got to him, he stopped shooting, dished out some assists and was handling the ball.”

After being utilized in a reserve role for much of the regular season, junior guard Tanner Harrison cracked the starting lineup and performed well

“I watched the film from our two wins against Abbeville,” Jones said. “I liked the way Harrison played defense. I’ve been trying to find the right five guys to put together. These five play good defense together.”