By ROBERT L. LEE

RESERVE – The girls from Buras may want to have a talk with the Chalmette team soon. It was their loss to Riverside a few days before that gave the Lady Rebels an added boost and an overwhelming win over Buras Tuesday.

Coming off the last-second 65-64 win against Chalmette, the Lady Rebels maintained their zeal and crushed the Buras Wildcats by 48 points, 58-10.

“A lot of it was the kids’ doing, their determination,” said coach Sheremy Dillard.

The Lady Rebels’ determination in the last moments against Chalmette sent a shot through the air by Crystal Rome. The shot missed, but teammate Karen Cortez was right there for the rebound and just enough time for the winning basket.

“Chalmette gave us a morale boost, because we weren’t supposed to beat them,” added Dillard.

She said going into the game with the 0-10 Wildcats, the Lady Rebels had a mind set that they didn’t want certain teams, including Buras, to score a certain amount of points. The certain amount for Buras Tuesday turned out to be an embarrassing 10 points.

Home-team fans witnessed the Lady Rebels run up 20 points in the first eight minutes, while limiting the Wildcats to two points. After their early accomplishment, the Lady Rebels added only 12 points to their lead, but allowed the Wildcats not only one goal, but one point in the second quarter.

“Buras has more of a free offense than a set offense,” said Dillard. “There’s not much continuity and they’re a very young team.”

What also kept the second quarter points from sky-rocketing was the Lady Rebels’ varsity team was taken out of the game during the second and fourth quarters, allowing the junior varsity players some valuable experience on the court.

Dillard said the game was mostly a learning experience and gave her team a chance to work on some of their weaknesses, especially in case some of their key players are ever fouled out in a big game.

She said games like these also help lower the younger girls’ nervousness about being on the court and they are getting better as the season progresses.

One of her examples was freshman Courtney Simon, who usually backs up Rome.

“She does the best she can and against Buras, she had nine points,” Dillard added.

Those nine points came when Rome was rotated off the court, after scoring a total 30 points.

“Crystal was shooting more three’s than usual,” said Dillard. “She didn’t drive as much on this team, so when she shot, we crashed the board to put back any shots missed.”

Dillard said the rebounds and trying to drop in the following points have been the “thorn” in her side all season and one thing she tried to work on against Buras.

At the half, Dillard told her team not to relax with their 32-3 lead and not to take anything for granted.

“I always tell them to keep their heads high, but never their nose. That’s when things can happen to you,” she said.

The Lady Rebels kept their heads high and never looked down until the fourth quarter. After a 21-3 blowout by the varsity players in the third quarter, the junior varsity players took to the court for more practice and allowed the Wildcats four points and a double digit score. Riverside’s six last quarter bumped them up to a final 58 points.