Second half surge propels Pios past Kinder

The Notre Dame Pios used a 14-0 run in the first four minutes of the third quarter to break open a tight game and they cruised from there to a 50-33 victory over the Kinder Yellow Jackets in the opening game of the St. Edmund Tournament Monday.
The victory sent the Pios to 6-0 on the season and into yesterday’s Large School Bracket semifinal contest against Eunice, which knocked off Pine Prairie, 75-39, in their first-round game.
“Everything that we do is based off of our defense and in the first half, our rotations were just a little bit slow and sloppy,” said ND coach Duke Daigle. “In the second half, we just kind of got after them a little bit. We cleaned some of our rotations up and it made all the difference in the world.
“We just rotated better and turned the defense up and got after it.”
The Pios led by as many as eight twice in the first half, but the Yellow Jackets went on a 6-2 run in the final minute to trim the deficit to four (23-19) entering the break.
That was as close as the Yellow Jackets would get, however.
The Pios scored the first 14 points of the third quarter and outscored the Yellow Jackets 16-6 to push the lead to 39-25.
Teddy Menard and Grady Faulk each scored five points during the outburst and Zach Lamm’s putback with three minutes remaining in the period put the Pios up by 20 at 39-19.
It was the Pios defense that enabled the big run, forcing eight of Kinder’s 18 turnovers in the frame.
“In the third quarter, we cleaned some things up,” said Daigle. “We got after it and when we get after it, we enjoy it and have fun because it allows us to get some transition points, which gets us in a better flow offensively.”
Menard scored the first six points of the fourth quarter for the Pios and added three more down the stretch to help put the game away.
Menard led all scorers on the night with 18 points and the junior guard also had four rebounds and four steals.
Faulk, a junior forward, had his biggest game thus far with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists.
“Grady has shown some glimpses of being really good and tonight he was able to put it all together,” said Daigle of Faulk, who scored eight points in the first half. “We don’t expect him to go out there and score 12 or 14 a game, but we do expect him to score some and get six or so rebounds.
“He moved and rotated well and he hit some big shots for us tonight.”
Lamm also scored in double figures with 11 points and the senior guard also pulled down eight rebounds and logged eight steals.
Nick Swacker, a senior, scored just four points, but he grabbed seven boards and dished out a team-high six assists.
“Swacker and Lamm are going to give you what you need to win,” said Daigle of his senior leaders.
Freshmen Parker Faust and Jackson Casanova rounded out the Pios’ offense with two points each.
Should the Pios defeat Eunice, they would advance to today’s championship game against either Mamou or Sulphur at 8 p.m.
A loss would have the Pios playing today at 12:30 p.m. in a consolation game.
In the other semifinal game of the Large School Bracket Tuesday, Sulphur took on Mamou.
Sulphur defeated St. Charles on Monday, 47-38, and Mamou upended Vermilion Catholic, 72-53.