North Vermilion Lady Patriots fall to Barbe

LAKE CHARLES - North Vermilion Lady Patriots head coach Jack LeBlanc is always looking for ways to improve the girls’ basketball team. 
In mid-January, he saw a way. He added the Class 5A Barbe Lady Buccaneers (24-3) to the schedule. Barbe is off to a great start and is ranked in the top five of the Division I Power rankings. 
On Monday, the Lady Patriots, on a 21-game winning streak and ranked No. 3 in the Division II power rankings,  traveled to Barbe High to battle the Lady Buccaneers in preparation for what is about to be the most challenging part of their schedule.
The Lady Patriots’ (21-2) next three opponents have a combined record of 46-20. They travel to Teurlings Catholic (16-7) on  Friday, entertain St. Thomas More (14-7) on Tuesday and end the regular season on the road against Rayne (16-6).
The odds are the Lady Patriots’ next three opponents are not going to be as good as Barbe. North Vermilion’s 21-game winning streak came to an end, falling to Barbe 58-25. It was NV’s first loss since Nov. 19, when Oberlin won 61-57 to open the season.
“This is why I scheduled Barbe,” said LeBlanc. “Once we got to the point where we were winning so many games before we played Teurlings and St. Thomas More, they (NV) needed a test. Do I think Barbe is 33 points better than us? Probably not, but when you make eight three-pointers in the first half, their confidence was sky high, and our confidence was done.”
Barbe put the game away in the first quarter, nailing eight six 3-pointers and only two- 2-pointers to take a 24-8 lead.
The closest the Lady Patriots got to Barbe was 90 seconds into the game when Kenzie Marceaux made a jumper to make it an 8-4 game. 
Three minutes later, Barbe led 19-5.  Ava Denais ended Barbe’s 11-0 run with a three-pointer at the 2:42 mark in the first period. She finished the game with seven points.
Barbe led 40-17 at halftime.
The second half was not much better for the Lady Patriots. In fact, they did not make a bucket in the third period. The only two points they scored were two free throws by Reagan Semien. 
North Vermilion’s first bucket of the second half happened with three minutes left in the game.   Chloe LeBlanc made a layup. Lady Patriots’ Ashanté Rose and Emme Kelly also made baskets in the fourth quarter. 
Coach LeBlanc said playing a team like Barbe was a good experience for his squad. “We have not had to struggle for a while. That struggle now will help us in the long run of what we are trying to do.”