St. Paul's Aaron Seiden drives the lane for a shot against Destrehan on Dec. 6.
St. Paul's senior Nathan Barrette drained a 3-pointer early in the first quarter against Destrehan on Dec. 6.
He was fouled on the play and calmly completed his four-point play as the Wolves raced out to a 7-0 lead.
It was a sign of things to come.
Barrette finished with a game-high 14 points as 11 Wolves scored en route to a wire-to-wire 58-41 home victory.
"Getting the early lead gave us a chance to be really, really versatile defensively because we didn't have to play from behind," St. Paul's coach Stephen Dale said. "We were able to change defenses between press and man and zone, and we were able to keep them off balance. I think we executed the game plan well tonight."
Barrette agreed: "This was our best start this season. We had single-digit turnovers in this game. We moved the ball well and played very good defense. This was a good building game for us. Our goal is to be playing our best basketball in January and February, so this was a good step towards that."
The Wolves took a 25-18 halftime lead but pulled away in the third quarter as St. Paul's held Destrehan to just seven points to build a 38-25 advantage. The Wildcats (1-5) never threatened in the final period.
Destrehan cut the lead to single digits in the second and third quarters, but Dale said he was impressed with how his team didn't blink.
"We were able to take a punch and respond," Dale said. "Our guys are growing up on the court. It's crazy how much things can change from game to game. We're seeing a lot of growth. It's really easy for our players to stay engaged because we sub so much. I think that helps us keep the energy high."
Senior Noah Montz added nine points, while junior Don Peltier and sophomore Ethan Ballard had eight and seven points, respectively. The Wolves (4-3) hit nine 3-pointers and shot 14 free throws in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats tried to extend the game.
For Destrehan, Keene Brown, Sergie Williams and Cayden Coleman had seven points each.
Dale said the most impressive thing about the win was how his team executed the game plan.
"Tonight was probably the most intense game planning that we've had yet in terms of having a real clear way we wanted to attack and a clear secondary option if things didn't go our way," Dale said. "Seeing the execution of that game plan was impressive. I saw a real carryover from film study to game planning to execution on the court, so that was good to see this early in the season."
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Destrehan | 6 | 12 | 7 | 16 -- 41
St. Paul's | 13 | 12 | 13 | 20 -- 58
BOX SCORE
Destrehan (1-5): Cayden Coleman 7; Keenan Brown 7; Sergie Williams 7; Jumoni Washington, 6; Kobe Llewellyn 4; Dave Turner 4; Beau Brouillette 2; Charlie Triggs Jr. 1.
St. Paul's (4-3): Nathan Barrette 14; Noah Montz 9; Don Peltier 8; Ethan Ballard 7; Jacob Durpe 6; Harlan Adams 4; Carson Michel 3; Brady Pierson 3; Aaron Seiden 2, Logan Autin 1; Ethan Landry 1.