Slidell registers win over Covington

Slidell’s Lady Tigers forced 31 turnovers and collected 22 steals in a 55-40-district victory over Covington in Tuesday’s game held at SHS.

The turnover stat wasn’t lost on CHS coach Christine Beauvais.

“We had 15 or 16 at halftime. We go in and say we’ve gotta make that adjustment and we have about that many if not one or two more in the second half,” Beauvais said. “We didn’t make the adjustment of taking care of the ball.”

Slidell (11-5) improved to 2-1 in district, while the Lady Lions (3-10) slipped to 0-3 in district play.

Slidell used a full-court press for much of the game. Lillian McAbee and Anna Gomez led Slidell with six steals. McAbee also posted 12 points and five assists.

McAbee talked about her performance.

“I think I just drove to the ball a lot. They left a lot in the open, so it was a lot of drive and penetration with my teammates,” McAbee said.

Kameron Lacoste added four steals.

It was a seesaw battle for much of the first quarter. Covington, who trailed for most of the opening period, took its only lead, 13-12, with 1:47 left when Kelsie Gassen hit a 3-pointer.

The advantage was short-lived, as Lacoste, who scored 10 points, got hot and drained a pair of treys in the final 1:09 to put Slidell ahead, 18-13, after the first.

In the second quarter, the Lady Tigers seemed to have things in control with a 28-16 lead and 4:33 left in the half, but Covington scored eight-consecutive points, trimming SHS’ lead to 28-24. SHS’ Hannah Gambrell, who posted eight rebounds, hit a pair of free throws with 58.9 left and the Lady Tigers led 30-24 at the break.

CHS’ Gloria Darby began the spurt with a layup on a pass from Rachel Smith. Then Charlishia Bradford hit a layup. Smith got a steal and bucket with 3:09 left. Khadijah James capped the run with hoop. In the third quarter, Slidell regained control by tallying the half’s first six points, extending the advantage to 36-24.

Lacoste began the run by hitting a layup after CHS tried to save the ball under its own goal. McAbee, who tied Bianca Navarre for the team lead with 12 points, hit a shot, was fouled, but missed the free throw. Then Gomez hit McAbee, who was fouled and made the basket, but couldn’t complete the three-point play. Slidell led 36-24 with 5:25 left and 41-29 after the third period. Navarre also grabbed nine rebounds.

In the fourth quarter, CHS’ Kenyata Barney scored on the first possession, making it 41-31 with 7:43 left, but the Lady Lions could get no closer.

With Slidell leading 45-33, McAbee put her team up by 14 with a steal and layup. After CHS cut it to 47-35, McAbee hit a layup with 6:09 left. Slidell slowed things down went to a ball-control offense midway through the fourth.

Lady Tigers’ coach Josh St. Cyr talked about the strategy.

“There’s going to be a lot of close games in district this year and we’ve got to make sure we protect leads, something we haven’t done particularly well this year,” St. Cyr said. “We’ve gotta make sure that with the lead, we can handle the ball, run that clock and take smart shots only.”