The New Iberia Senior High boys’ basketball team beat District 3-5A rival Southside on Thursday, 64-53, to remain unbeaten in district play. The Yellow Jackets are now 19-6 overall and 3-0 in district.

Christian Walker led the scoring for the Yellow Jackets with 24 points. Wayne Randall-Bashay (12 points) and Tylin Bray (11 points) also contributed to the win.

The Yellow Jackets have perfected their own brand of aggressive confidence on the court, and kept the pattern going over Southside by developing a lead early and never letting it go. Holding Southside to just 16 points in the first half, NISH came back from halftime with a desire to put the game away in the third quarter.

“Credit to the guys, they said that they would come out and play hard and they did,” said NISH head coach Chad Pourciau.

“I said that if we push it to twenty then I think we can make them (Southside) quit playing, I thought that we could turn it into them just throwing up shots. They didn’t, they kept battling, so credit to Southside, but credit to our guys too. They (Southside) cut it to six and we never blinked. Right after it went to six we hit a three, we got a stop and hit another three and it was twelve. Credit to both teams, when they were down by twenty-two they could’ve easily thrown in the towel and when they cut it to six we could’ve easily folded and went into overtime or blew it and we didn’t.”

Pourciau said his team can score from anyone on the roster, and that they can be dangerous to opponents if they remain healthy and continue to play their way.

“I keep telling people that Christian (Walker) can score at every level, that’s what he does, he scores with the ball. We have two other guys in double digits, (Jordan) Skinner hit two threes early in the game, so we’re not a one man show. That’s what I love about this team, we have so many pieces that can get you in different ways. I like the build of the team, the toughness, the rebounding, and if the defense stays there then I think we can be a problem.

Pourciau said his team will face a tough schedule next week with three games on the road to difficult opponents.

“We have a long week next week, we go to Comeaux on Tuesday and we go to Barbe on Friday. Barbe is a tough place to play, they’re 20-2, so it’ll be another big game. On Saturday we play Beau Chene, who is 20-5, in the Cajundome Classic. Three road games, three good teams, so it’ll be a tough week next week but I think that we are up for the challenge.”

Barbe (20-2, 3-0) is the only other undefeated team remaining in District 3-5A, and a win over the Buccaneers would give NISH a boost going into the last two weeks of the regular season.

The New Iberia Senior High boys’ basketball team beat District 3-5A rival Southside on Thursday, 64-53, to remain unbeaten in district play. The Yellow Jackets are now 19-6 overall and 3-0 in district.

Christian Walker led the scoring for the Yellow Jackets with 24 points. Wayne Randall-Bashay (12 points) and Tylin Bray (11 points) also contributed to the win.

The Yellow Jackets have perfected their own brand of aggressive confidence on the court, and kept the pattern going over Southside by developing a lead early and never letting it go. Holding Southside to just 16 points in the first half, NISH came back from halftime with a desire to put the game away in the third quarter.

“Credit to the guys, they said that they would come out and play hard and they did,” said NISH head coach Chad Pourciau.

“I said that if we push it to twenty then I think we can make them (Southside) quit playing, I thought that we could turn it into them just throwing up shots. They didn’t, they kept battling, so credit to Southside, but credit to our guys too. They (Southside) cut it to six and we never blinked. Right after it went to six we hit a three, we got a stop and hit another three and it was twelve. Credit to both teams, when they were down by twenty-two they could’ve easily thrown in the towel and when they cut it to six we could’ve easily folded and went into overtime or blew it and we didn’t.”

Pourciau said his team can score from anyone on the roster, and that they can be dangerous to opponents if they remain healthy and continue to play their way.

“I keep telling people that Christian (Walker) can score at every level, that’s what he does, he scores with the ball. We have two other guys in double digits, (Jordan) Skinner hit two threes early in the game, so we’re not a one man show. That’s what I love about this team, we have so many pieces that can get you in different ways. I like the build of the team, the toughness, the rebounding, and if the defense stays there then I think we can be a problem.

Pourciau said his team will face a tough schedule next week with three games on the road to difficult opponents.

“We have a long week next week, we go to Comeaux on Tuesday and we go to Barbe on Friday. Barbe is a tough place to play, they’re 20-2, so it’ll be another big game. On Saturday we play Beau Chene, who is 20-5, in the Cajundome Classic. Three road games, three good teams, so it’ll be a tough week next week but I think that we are up for the challenge.”

Barbe (20-2, 3-0) is the only other undefeated team remaining in District 3-5A, and a win over the Buccaneers would give NISH a boost going into the last two weeks of the regular season.