Minden’s boys basketball team opened their season on a high note with a 62-28 win over Gibsland-Coleman on Monday night.
“Our defense was pretty good in the first half,” Minden head coach Rennie Bailey said. “In the second half we fell off a little bit. We need to get it all going for all four quarters.”
Curtis Carter led the Tide with 13 points. Chance Mitchell added 11, and D’Marqueus Gill had nine points to lead Minden.
The Tide (1-0) will take on North Webster in the Lakeside tournament on Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the junior high gym at Lakeside.
The Lady Tiders went on the road for their first game and fell to Ruston, 41-39.
Minden went down 21-15 after the first half after only converting eight of their 19 free throw attempts.
“To only be down six, on the road at that point, we were blessed,” Minden head coach Jacob Brown said.
The Lady Tiders went on an 8-0 run to take a 23-22 lead in the third quarter. Ruston still managed to outscore Minden in the third, so Brown decided to change defenses from a man-to-man to a zone.
In the fourth, Derrica Gilbert hit a three-pointer with two minutes to play that put Minden down two, 40-38.
With 17 seconds remaining, Minden was down 41-39 and had the ball. The Lady Tiders attempted a three-point shot and missed, and the game was over.
“I thought we needed to get that game to overtime,” Brown said. “But, it’s not the end of the season.”
Gilbert led Minden (0-1) with 14 points. Janiya Reed had ten points, and Tayler Banks added seven.