Tigers begin tournament with blowout win
The Donaldsonville Tigers caught fire at St. Amant’s John “Hot Rod” Williams Gold Dome Classic last week, and they continued their hot streak at home on Thursday night.
The Tigers went a perfect 3-0 at the Gold Dome Classic. On Thursday, they began action in their Tiger Round Robin tournament.
Donaldsonville faced Cohen and absolutely dominated from start to finish. The Tigers forced the Hornets into an amble amount of turnovers, and most times, they turned those turnovers into points.
The Tigers began the game on an amazing 25-0 run. They eventually won the contest by a score of 71-27.
“I was real pleased,” Donaldsonville head coach Lionel Gilbert said. “That has to be our identity. We’re gonna have to get after people defensively, cause turnovers, get out in transition and try not to let it become a half-court game. We’re undersized in a lot of areas, so we have to make the game fast.
“Our quickness is our strength, and we have guys that can finish at the basket. We have to be able to cause havoc on the defensive end and try to get some easy baskets. We know we’re gonna give up some offensive rebounds, but to balance it out, we have to create some turnovers.”
Quintez Dabney had a terrific game for the Tigers, and he got heated up right from the start. To begin the contest, he came up with a steal and finished it off with a layup to put Donaldsonville up 5-0.
Soon afterward, Lawrence Forcell nailed a 3-pointer to make it 9-0. That was followed by a steal and layup by Clenard Mollere to push the lead to 11-0.
Mollere later nailed a trey and added a huge breakaway dunk that pushed the advantage to 18-0.
The lead got all the way to 25-0 until Cohen finally made their first field goal with just 1:32 remaining in the opening quarter.
In the period, Forcell hit three 3-pointers to give Donaldsonville a 28-4 advantage.
But the Tigers didn’t slow down. They began the second quarter on a 12-0 run. Six of those points were scored by Dabney.
Cohen didn’t score their first points of the period until there was 3:32 left before halftime.
The Tigers carried a 43-7 advantage into the break.
To begin the third quarter, Donaldsonville got 3-pointers from both Dabney and Tyrielle North.
And to end the period, Forcell hit a trey at the buzzer. It gave the Tigers a 68-16 lead after three.
Dabney led all scorers with his 24 points. Forcell was not far behind with 20, on the strength of his five 3-pointers.
Mollere added 11, and North chipped in with seven.
It was the fourth straight victory for Donaldsonville as it improved their overall record to 6-3.
“I like the direction we’re going,” Gilbert said. “We just want to get a little better every day and keep progressing until we get into January and February. Hopefully, we’ll be hitting on all cylinders by then.
“It’s a fun group to coach. I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s a different team from what we’ve had in the past. We’re usually big on the front court, and now we have five guards. We’re mixing it up, and I like the toughness and resiliency they’ve shown. We just have to refine that and continue to get better.”