Warriors edge Vikings in tournament finale

The Northside Christian Warriors didn’t exactly set the world on fire with their free throw shooting Wednesday afternoon in their round robin tournament finale at Teurlings High School.
In fact, they shot a dismal 41 percent from the charity stripe, making just 15 of their 37 attempts.
But, with the game hanging in the balance, the Warriors got the ball to the right man.
Jagger Thibodeaux went 8-for-8 from the free throw line down the stretch, sinking six straight in the final minute to help lift the Warriors to a thrilling 52-50 victory over Opelousas Catholic.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well at the line and that has been a problem for us all season, but Jagger really came through when we needed him the most,” said NCS coach Glenn Daigle of his senior guard who went 12-for-15 from the stripe and finished with a team-high 16 points.
“He’s been one of our most consistent free throw shooters and he knocked down some really big ones for us today.”
Thibodeaux’s first two free throws of the final frame gave the Warriors a 48-47 lead with just under a minute remaining.
The Vikings turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions after that and each time, they fouled Thibodeaux.
He calmly stepped to the line with ice in his veins and sank all four free throw attempts to push the lead to 52-47 with seven seconds remaining.
The Vikings didn’t quit, however.
Markaas Daughtery knocked down a long-range 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds remaining to trim the lead to 52-50 and the Vikings took a quick time out.
Daughtery nearly played the hero role by stealing the Warriors’ inbounds pass under the Vikings’ own goal, but Thibodeaux fouled him on a shot attempt that just rimmed out.
The foul paid off with Daughtery missing the first free throw attempt with no time remaining to seal their fate.
“That was a crazy finish,” said Daigle. “We should have never turned the ball over right there, but we did and Jagger had to foul him. Fortunately, the kid missed.”
Free throws weren’t the only thing that hurt the Warriors. They also turned the ball over 13 times in the second half, including seven times in the fourth quarter, enabling the Vikings to claw back into the game.
The Vikings, who trailed by as many as 14 in the third quarter, went on a 17-4 run to start the final period and they took their first lead since early in the opening frame at 45-44 with just over four minutes remaining.
The Vikings’ only lead prior to that point was on Baylin Ford’s layup in the first minute of the contest.
The lead switched hands twice after that before Thibodeaux’s heroics at the free throw line put the Warriors ahead for good.
“We had 24 turnovers and most of the time, you’re not going to win a game doing that,” said Daigle. “Fortunately, we had a good cushion going into the fourth quarter and we were able to withstand their run.”
The Vikings also had their issues with turnovers.
They turned the ball over seven times in the opening frame and the Warriors converted most of them into points to take a 19-5 advantage.
The Warriors turned the ball over six times in the second frame and the Vikings closed the gap to 11 entering the half down 28-17.
The two teams played nearly even in the third quarter and the Warriors led 40-28 heading into the final stanza.
Thibodeaux was the leader for the Warriors with 16 points. He also logged 14 assists.
Garrett Kidder added 11 points and Caleb Hanks had 10.
In addition to the leaders, Joseph Woods scored seven points, Jake Morgan added five and Andrew Woods had three.
Doughtery paced the Vikings with 20 points. Chris Brown and Ford also scored in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Warriors finished 2-1 in the tournament and improved to 9-11 overall heading into Monday’s matchup against Hanson Memorial at 2 p.m. in the St. Edmund tournament.
“It wasn’t a pretty win, but it’s still a win,” said Daigle. “And it’s a win against a bigger school so that’s always good.
“To get two out of three games here against larger schools, that hopefully gives us some momentum heading into the St. Edmund tournament next week.”