ST. MARTINVILLE — Coach Ihmaru Jones has St. Martinville Senior High surging as the No. 11 Tigers travel to New Orleans today to face No. 3 Sophie B. Wright in the Class 3A quarterfinals.

The Tigers (21-9), whose last loss was to North Central on Jan. 16, will go for their ninth straight win vs. the Warriors (18-7).

“Wright has a lot of athletes who get up and down the court in transition,” Jones said. “We’re going to have to be in control and make them play at our pace.

“Our guys won’t be intimidated. We don’t have depth, and we can’t afford to get fatigued as a result. When you get tired, sometimes the mind wanders. You miss shots and have defensive lapses.”

SMSH didn’t suffer many defensive lapses in a 55-41 rout of No. 6 Ville Platte in the second round on Tuesday.

“We took control from the onset,” said Jones, whose team staked an 11-2 first-quarter lead at Ville Platte. “They tried to make a few runs.

“It was a great atmosphere. I loved it. When they made a few baskets, it got loud, but for the most part, we kept them quiet.”

Harvey Broussard helped silence the Ville Platte fans with a solid defensive performance in his first game back with the Tigers.

The 6-foot-4 dual-sport star was recently reinstated to the SMSH roster after the sophomore was previously dismissed from the team.

Broussard, who holds several scholarship offers from prominent college football programs, had been absent from some of the basketball team’s activities while he traveled with his 7-on-7 football team.

“It was decided that the games he missed were enough punishment,” Jones said. “He played pretty well versus Ville Platte. He didn’t shoot much, but he shut down their best player, No. 4 (Earnest Roberts).”

Broussard finished with 10 points for the Tigers on Tuesday. Davontre Alexander also had 10 points, and Datayvious Gabriel poured in 19.

“We took some charges, which set the tone,” Jones said.

Wright defeated two Monroe-area programs, No. 30 Sterlington and No. 14 Richwood, to reach the quarterfinals.

The Warriors were ousted in last year’s quarterfinals by Madison Prep. In 2019, Madison Prep beat the Warriors in the semifinals. Peabody knocked off the Warriors in the 2018 semifinals.

In its 85-82 win over Richwood on Tuesday, Wright was paced by 6-foot-1 guard Jordan Boston’s 26 points.

The Warriors have excellent depth. In January, Karmello Vessell came off the bench to hit five 3-pointers in a 63-41 win over Division III No. 1 Newman.

“On film, they look to have a lot of 5-foot-11 to 6-foot-1 players,” Jones said. “We have to slow them down. They go deep in the playoffs every year. I don’t think they know what a down year is.”