Home » Lakeside Warriors downed by West Ouachita, Lady Tiders top Lady Gators

Lakeside Warriors downed by West Ouachita, Lady Tiders top Lady Gators

by Minden Press-Herald

The Lakeside Warriors went down by double digits for the second time in 24 hours, but this time they couldn’t complete a comeback bid.

On opening night of the 24th annual Don Stahl Memorial Tournament, the host Warriors came up just short against tournament newcomers West Ouachita, falling to the Chiefs 71-68 in a game that came down to the final moments. “Once again, my guys displayed a ton of heart,”

Lakeside head coach Marlon McDaniel said. “They never gave up, but we came up short in this one; however I believe we, players and coaches, needed this lesson.”

Lakeside was down by 20 points in the second half against as West Ouachita unleashed a lethal trio of guards, knocking down a number of 3-point baskets and using full-court pressure to disrupt the Warrior offense.

The Warriors committed too many turnovers and the team’s top scorer Damion Coleman fouled out midway through the fourth quarters. Lakeside is good enough to overcome one of those scenarios, but not both.

A Tyreke Lofton putback made the score 56-43 entering the fourth quarter and gave Lakeside some momentum.

The Warriors, much like they did the night before against Doyline, turned the final period into a track meet in transition, allowing Coleman, Lofton and Buffate Coleman some easy opportunities near the rim.

“There are some things that we can do more and less of and those changes are coming,” McDaniel said.

“This is a process. We just have to continue to trust it and trust each other.”

The Warriors trimmed the Chiefs’ lead to 64-60 on an NBA range 3-pointer off the fingers of Aldravion Taylor and climbed within one point at 66-65 when big man Branthony Brown drained a 3-pointer of his own from the right wing.

West Ouachita would quiet the crowd with a bucket on the other end, followed by a Lakeside turnover leading to free throws on the other end to put the game out of reach.

Damion Coleman led Lakeside in scoring with 14 points, followed by Tyreke Lofton in double figures with 11 points.

The Warriors move to the loser’s bracket, where they will face the Ringgold Redskins, who lost to Lakeview, Friday at 6:30 p.m.

Minden Lady Tiders vs. Lakeview Lady Gators In the nightcap of night one action, head coach Jacob Brown and the Lady Tiders dominated the Lakeview Lady Warriors 73-35, moving their record to 2-0 on the season.

The Lady Tiders were ready to roll from the opening tip, deploying their full-court press and forcing countless Lady Gator turnovers.

Junior point guard Bre Rodgers was outstanding, displaying the smooth handles and silky jump shot that Minden fans have grown accustomed to. Minden led 29-13 after one quarter and 50-19 by halftime in a game that was never in doubt.

“We were able to apply some full-court pressure and force a lot of turnovers,” Brown said. “Our girls did a good job of executing the gameplan and making things hard on Lakeview.

“I liked the intensity that we played with. It’s the type of intensity we want to play with night in and night out regardless of the opponent.”

Rodgers led the Lady Tiders with a game-high 20 points, followed by Whitney Aubrey who came off the bench to score 12 points.

Sha’Terra “Strawberry” Batton finished with 9 points, Jazzmyn White added 7 points, Derrica Gilbert tacked on 6 points and Tayler Banks finished with 5 points.

Minden will resume action Friday at 5 p.m. against the Haughton Lady Buccaneers in the second round of tournament play.

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