By ROBERT L. LEE

SLIDELL – The Hahnville Tigers travelled to Slidell Friday and proved they don’t mind playing on the road. The Tigers focused on using a defensive stronghold and held the Slidell Tigers for a 56-40 win.

Hahnville missed all of their shots and allowed Slidell to take a four-point lead in the opening minutes, before coach Brian Lumar stopped the game momentarily for a timeout. He reminded his Tigers of their season-long mission and they returned to the court to finish the first quarter ahead 12-9.

Through the following three quarters, Hahnville continued to increase their defensive pressure, forcing Slidell to lose a total of 20 turnovers. With the Slidell offense smothered by purple and gold, the Hahnville offense was able to slowly build the short lead from 22-15 at halftime, into the final 16-point win.

“Defense wins games, offense wins fans,” commented Lumar. “I’ve been real confident in the guys. They have been extremely focused in practice and we were really prepared, focused and patient,” explained Lumar.

He said although his guys needed a little “wake up call” in the first minutes of the game, they know what their mission is and they know in the playoffs, each game could be their last.

“We talked about this possibly being our last game and I told them this is what we’ve worked for. The guys responded well,” Lumar added.

He said through playing in such a competitive district and their 15 prior road games, his Tigers are accustomed to playing on the road.

“We’re used to playing on the road and we’re pretty confident when we go out on the road. It’s pretty much the same to us as playing at home,” he added.

Lumar said “the great crowd” of fans who made the trip over to Slidell helped make the setting less threatening. The Tigers also received valuable help from every player on their team.

Lumar said every Tiger, from 1-15, whether usually on the hardwood bench or the hardwood floor contributed to Hahnville’s solid defensive effort.

Although this season was labeled as a rebuilding year, Lumar said “I am not looking forward to using that as an excuse. We are looking to be successful and letting everything else take care of itself.”

Nickolas Cannon walked out of Slidell with a total 21 points, followed by Al Mott who had 13.