By Michael Kiral / L’Observateur / February 4, 1998

RESERVE – Thibodaux overcame a 16-2 first quarter deficit to gain aDistrict 6-5A victory at East St. John Friday night, 57-51.

The victory improved the Tigers’ record to 6-2 in district and 15-9overall. East St. John fell to 1-7 in district play and 7-15 overall.Blake Frye led the way for the Tigers with 20 points. Larry Winston added13 points, while Anson Dillon and Johnny Thompson contributed 11 pointsapiece.

Clement Carter led all scorers with 22 points. Robert Joseph chipped inwith 13 points for the Wildcats.

A steal and a layup by Frye gave the Tigers their first lead of the game at37-36 with 7:43 remaining in the fourth quarter. Another steal and layupby Frye and a jump shot by Dillon increased the lead to five before East St.

John used a timeout with 5:21 remaining.After the Wildcats cut the deficit to 41-38 on a put back by Carter, theTigers answered with six unanswered points. Carter trimmed the Tigers’lead to 47-41 with a 3-pointer with 1:40 left, but Winston and Thompsonthen hit eight of 12 free throws to increase the advantage to seven with14 seconds remaining. Eric McClein buried another 3-pointer to close towithin four, but Dillon responded with two free throws with eight secondsleft to ice the game.

The Wildcats looked to run away with the game in the first quarter. Insidebaskets by Roydell Williams and Joseph gave the Wildcats a 6-0 run beforeThompson scored the Tigers’ first points at the 5:02 mark. The Wildcatsthen went on a 10-0 run to close the quarter, highlighted by six points byCarter.

Thibodaux begin its rally as the second quarter opened. A three-point playby Dillon started the run, followed by layups by Frye and Dillon. After atip-in by Frye, Carter followed a miss by Greg Gathers and slammed itdown to give the Wildcats a 19-11 lead. A steal and layup by Gathersincreased the lead back to 10 before Thompson answered with a 3-pointerfrom the right side. A goal-tending call against the Wildcats on a layupattempt by Thompson cut the deficit to 21-16. The Wildcats again answered with two six points by Joseph to rebuild thelead back to 10 before Frye grabbed a rebound and put it back to make thescore 28-20 at the half.

The Thibodaux rally continued into the third quarter asthe Tigers scored the first six points of the half. Layups by Winston and Frye and a put back by Frye cut the deficit to two.

East St. John again answered with a 3-pointer by Carter and layup byWilliams to take a 33-26 lead. But baskets by Frye and Thompson and a 3-pointer by Winston tied the game at 33 with 38 seconds remaining in thequarter.

Joseph came right back by putting back his own miss while being fouled onthe Wildcats’ ensuing possession. Joseph hit the free throw to give theWildcats a 36-33 lead before Winston drove in for layup to cut the deficitto one after three quarters.

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