SHREVEPORT – It was a big night for basketball at Woodlawn High School as the Minden Crimson Tide and Woodlawn Knights faced off in a pivotal district 1-4A matchup.
The Tide and Knights battled each other tooth-and-nail all night with Minden finding a way to win in the end, 57-53.
The win moves Minden’s district record to 3-3 with four district games to play.
The Tide will likely need to win at least three of those four games to make the playoffs in Class 4A.
The Tide got big time minutes from sharp-shooter Shun Moore, who led the Tide with 23 points in the win.
Moore got some help from senior L’Jarius Sneed who pitched in 10 points, excellent ball-handling and defense. Jordan Becnel scored eight points, Sakari Batton added seven and Thomas Brown finished with six to round out the Tide’s scoring.
The next game for the Tide will be Friday night against the Northwood Falcons. That game will be senior night at The Palace.
Lady Tiders
The Minden Lady Tiders were involved in a barn-burner as well, taking a very good Woodlawn Lady Knights team to the wire before falling 57-54.
“It was a hard-fought game on both ends,” Lady Tider head coach Jacob Brown said. “Both teams left it all out on the court.”
Minden ended the first quarter down by eight and trailed 27-19 going to the half.
The Lady Tiders came out inspired in the second half, trimming the Lady Knights’ lead to 34-30 at one point. Woodlawn would stiffen at that point though, holding off the Minden charge the rest of the way.
Throughout the game, Minden fans voiced severe frustration with the way the game was officiated, and a critical foul call in the final minute of play on a rebound under the goal gave Woodlawn two free throws that helped seal the game.
“There were questionable calls,” Brown said. “But at the end of the day, I’m proud of my girls for competing. We need to focus on controlling the things we can control going forward, like layups and turnovers.”
Minden committed a whopping 29 turnovers on the night.
Tiaga Pugh led the way with 18 points and 11 rebounds, followed by Marlena Hill with 13 points and Bre Rogers with 17 points.
The Lady Tiders will take on Northwood for senior night, Fridat at 6 p.m.