McMain earns solid 62-53 win over Port Allen

Despite winning five of the last six heading into Wednesday's game, McMain coach Steven Kelly said his team still needed a statement win this season.

The Mustangs had a prime opportunity against defending champion Port Allen and they took it.

McMain (11-6) trailed by three at the end of the first quarter but led most of the second half for a 62-53 win in Port Allen. Wednesday was Port Allen's final regular season game.

EJ McQuillan led all scorers with 20 points. Isaiah Howard added 13 for the Pelicans (25-4)

Lionel Larvadain led McMain with 17 points. Oren Bowens added 10 points.

"Coming into tonight's game, we told the team we needed a statement victory and this was a good statement victory," Kelly said. "They're (Port Allen) the number one team in their class. They by far have one of the best teams in the state. Getting this victory is good for our program going into the playoffs. Hell of a job by our guys. They came to fight today."

The Mustangs led 26-20 at halftime before Port Allen scored nine straight out of the locker room.

McQuillan's three-point play gave Port Allen a 29-26 edge with six minutes left in the third.

The teams alternated leads for most of the third before McMain seized a six-point lead heading into the fourth.

The final quarter belonged to the Mustangs. They led by as many as 13 points at 53-40 with 4:45 left.

The Pelicans scored nine straight to trim the deficit to 53-49 on Ji'Siah Fernandez's putback with 2:50 left to play.

McMain outscored Port Allen 9-4 to close out the game.

"We talked about that team being really tough and really good," said Port Allen coach Dimario Jackson. "For good parts of the game, we didn't match that. We didn't play our brand of basketball at some points. I thought we came out of halftime really well but we didn't stay consistent. "We've got to shift our focus now because now, it's win or go home."