West St. Mary Wolfpack come up short in Class 2-A playoffs

RAYVILLE _ West St. Mary put up a huge fight on Saturday before falling to the Rayville Hornets here by a final score of 79-58 in the LHSAA Class 2-A bi-district playoffs at the Rayville Gym.
No. 27 seeded West St. Mary went on an early run, gaining momentum while silencing the hometown crowd where the banner displaying “Rayville, LA, The Home of Elvin Hayes, The Big E, One of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players of All Time, NBA Hall of Fame 1990” was hanging.
West St. Mary gained the early momentum and lead on the No. 6 seeded Rayville Hornets when Jason Pierre scored on an offensive putback coupled with leading scorer Duante Charles’ long-range trey at the 4:29 mark of the opening quarter.
Early in the second quarter the highly-regarded Rayville Hornets seized control turning back the upset-minded West St. Mary Wolfpack with a perfect display of clamp-down defense and pin-point shooting.
With Pierre and Charles fueling the Wolfpack charge, West St. Mary stormed to its first lead at 7-6 in the opening frame.
A short time later, West St. Mary’s Tywan Polidore pushed through consecutive baskets, giving the Wolfpack an 11-8 lead with 2:01 showing on the clock.
Rayville’s James Cleveland and Mylik Wilson sent the Hornets on a 7-0 run as RHS soared outfront by a 15-11 lead with 50.7 remaining in the first period.
Cleveland knocked down a pair of free throws to pull the Hornets within one point of the Wolfpack at 11-10 before Wilson gave the RHS the lead for good on a triple. With the clock showing 1:11, Wilson grabbed a rebound and fed Cleveland for a short bank shot, lifting the Hornets to a 15-11 advantage.
WSM’s Charles connected on the second of two free throws to help the Wolfpack trim the Hornets’ lead to 15-12 with 40.3 seconds remaining in the first period.
Cleveland made good on a free throw to give the Hornets a four point, 16-12, lead before Charles answered with a bank shot to help the Wolfpack stay within striking range at 16-14 at the end of the first quarter.
Rayville found its rhythm in the second quarter, going on a 26-10 run, resulting in a 42-24 halftime cushion.
The Hornets benefited from a tenacious defensive performance in the second quarter, forcing several turnovers while also scoring on close range baskets to gain the 16-point run.
Rayville continued its hot hand in the second half by going on a 37-24 flurry to turn back the West St. Mary Wolfpack.
Charles led the Wolfpack in scoring with 13 points on three treys, four deuces and 3 of 4 free throws. Pierre finished with eight points while Chris Snowden and Tywan Polidore collected six points each. Cameron Blake added five points while Cristian Barard tossed in four points. Carey Jackson and Shonathon Sparrow finished with two points each.
Cleveland poured in a game-high 18 points to propel the Hornets into the second round of the state Class 2-A playoffs.
West St. Mary _ the District 6-2A Champion _ finished the season with a 12-6 overall record.
Rayville finished the season with a 25-7 record, including a perfect 10-0 district record.