Iota’s Young has career night against Lake Arthur

Avery Young has had some big performances for the Iota Lady Bulldogs during her four-year career on the hardwood.
None, however, was bigger than the performance she had Monday against defending Class 2A state champion Lake Arthur.
The senior guard went off on the Lady Tigers, torching the nets for a career-high 45 points to help lead Iota to a 68-49 victory.
The Lady Dogs improved to 6-1 overall with the victory heading into Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. contest against Class 5A Sulphur in the Lake Arthur Tournament.
It was just Iota’s second victory over Lake Arthur in nine years.
The Lady Tigers fell to 6-3 on the season with the loss.
“Not only was this Avery’s career high in scoring, she also added double digit rebounds and had some blocks and steals as well,” said Iota coach Meghann LeJeune. “She’s special and we all know she’s special; but tonight, she played with such confidence and swagger. They would send three and four (defenders) at her and she used that as motivation.”
Lake Arthur actually got off to a quick start behind five points from Kali Hornsby and the Lady Tigers took a 13-12 advantage after the first frame.
It was all Young after that.
The LSUE commitment knocked down six 3-pointers in the second quarter and scored 22 of Iota’s 26 points in the frame to help the Lady Dogs build a 38-25 advantage.
“Avery’s first three shots in the first quarter were short, but in the second quarter, she just exploded,” said LeJeune.
Young wasn’t quite finished just yet, however.
She added nine more points in each of the final two frames to round out her impressive point total.
Sage Wimberly added four points in the third quarter and Iota pushed its lead to 55-37.
The hosts went on to outscore the Lady Tigers 13-12 in the final frame.
Young’s impressive stat line included 15 rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and four steals.
She also went 13-for-14 from the free throw line and made 10 of 11 free throws in the second half.
“We got in the bonus early in the second half and Avery wanted to keep the ball,” said LeJeune. “She put the world on her shoulders and kept the ball and they kept fouling her. She went to the line and she would knock them down every time.
“But that’s what you expect from your star player. It was just fun to watch.”
Wimberly also played a big role in the victory with 10 points and nine rebounds.
“Sage was big for us on the boards and she’s really special defensively,” said LeJeune of Wimberly. “When you are playing a small team that’s fast like Lake Arthur, you tend to get a little nervous with your bigs on the floor, but with Sage being such a versatile big girl, she’s able to do so many things, especially defensively.”
Emily Hebert added five points for the Lady Dogs, Leah Hebert and Brinna Hebert each scored four.
Vivian Sketoe and Hornsby were the leaders for the Lady Tigers with 17 and 16 points, respectively.
Bulldogs come up short
Lake Arthur was able to avoid a sweep in the nightcap by knocking off Iota 80-74 in the boys game.
The Tigers stormed out to a 38-29 lead at the half.
Chase Lalonde and Andrew Thibodeaux combined for 15 points and Kolton Morgan knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter to help Iota trim the lead to 56-52 to get within striking distance.
The Tigers answered the call in the fourth quarter with nine clutch free throws and the guests outscored the Bulldogs 24-22 to secure the victory.
Lalonde and Thibodeaux paced the Bulldogs with 26 and 24 points, respectively.
Morgan added nine points, Bronx Tullos scored five and Luke Duhon, Conner Daigle and Ashton Andrepont each scored two.
Lake Arthur’s Kenyon Boese was the high man on the night with 31 points.