Abbeville boys get past St. Martinville in district

The No. 15-ranked Abbeville Wildcats won their fifth-consecutive game Friday and avenged their last loss with a 45-40 victory over the No. 27 St. Martinville Tigers.
While head coach Trevor Eaton thought his team played well, he thanked the Abbeville Lady Cats for inspiring them.
“The girls set the tone for the day by putting themselves in prime position to be the champions of District 5-3A,” Eaton said. “Our guys said if they can do it, we can do it too. And that’s exactly what they did. They came out and executed the game plan. The whole team stepped up and played a great game.”
Abbeville (16-12, 4-1) built a 19-14 second-quarter lead behind Trentin Cormier’s third three of the first half. They expanded it to 22-14 before the Tigers closed the half on a 4-0 run to make it 22-18 at the break.

The Wildcats started the second half on an 8-2 run to claim a 30-20 lead with 2:52 left in the third. Cormier’s fourth three of the game made it 33-24 heading into the fourth.
St. Martinville (11-14, 4-1) began the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run to get within 35-32 with five minutes left on the clock. The Wildcats answered with a 6-2 run to push the lead back to 41-34 with 3:12 to play.
The Tigers battled back, getting as close as 43-40 with a minute to play. Chayson Gray made two free throws with 11.1 seconds remaining to provide the final margin.
“That snow break benefitted us more than anyone in the state,” Eaton said. “We had plateaued. That break gave us a refresher. It let the kids know they can’t take this for granted because at any moment it can be taken from them. They came out this week and really showed how much they love the game of basketball.”

Cormier and Gray led the Wildcats with 12 points each. Cameron Samuels tossed in eight while Roderick Cunningham and Kobe Vital each dropped four. Jacolby Campbell added three points while Nigel Baudoin scored two.

Abbeville traveled to Erath on Tuesday. They will host ARCA on Friday.