NISH defense turns up the heat in 46-33 win over Acadiana
ST. MARTINVILLE – New Iberia Senior High’s girls basketball team thumped a good Acadiana squad 46-33 in the championship game of the Darrel Mitchell, Sr. Holiday Classic at St. Martinville Senior High last Friday.
Laila Sigure and Jasmine Picard were named to the All-Tournament team after the duo scored 22 and 11 points, respectively, in the finals.
Sigure, who made 4-of-7 field goals in the second half, was 3-of-4 from the floor in the fourth quarter with back-to-back three-pointers and a 3-point play that pushed the Lady Yellow Jackets ahead 45-31 with 2:36 remaining.
Acadiana (15-5) evened the score at 23-23 on two Zoe Spain free throws midway through the third quarter. Zoriahn Davis’s bucket gave NISH (13-6) the lead for good.
Picard followed with a three, and Sigure scored on a power move in the lane to make it 30-23. The Rams got to within 30-27 on a basket from point guard Nyla Goodman, who scored nine of her 12 points in the third, but the Jackets closed out with a 16-6 run.
Goodman was held scoreless in the fourth quarter. Spain, who scored 10 points, had a free throw in the fourth as the Rams were limited to three points in the quarter.
“We locked in on defense,” NISH coach Chris Johnson said. “Everybody bought into what we talked about. We ran three different defenses at them. The girls really dug deep down to get the W.”
Picard was 4-of-7 from the floor and 3-for-3 in the third quarter. All three of her baskets in the third were from beyond the arc.
“Those three-pointers were huge,” Johnson said. “They were in the right place at the right time. And Laila comes back down the floor and bangs in two 3’s with three minutes to go that sealed the game.
“I told Laila in the second half to keep doing what she was doing, and everything would be OK. She did exactly that.”
NISH has won five of its last six games after dropping three of four. The Yellow Jackets will host Lutcher (1-12) on Tuesday with road games at Northside (9-4) on Thursday and David Thibodaux (7-9) next week.
NISH will host Carencro (5-6) next Friday to begin District 3-5A play.
“It’s a great momentum builder for us to win this tournament,” Johnson said. “Great for our morale, and it lets people know that we are here. We’ve been winning one, then losing one. We’ve been wishy-washy. This has been our best game since St. Thomas More on Dec. 6.
“For us to win this tournament against a district opponent that we’re going to have to see again, it’s good for us going into the new year. If we continue playing like we did tonight, it’s going to be hard for anyone in the district to stay with us.”