ABBEVILLE – The first half did not go according to plan for VC as they hosted Hanson Memorial Friday night, but the Eagles overcame a 27-24 halftime deficit to notch 8-1A victory number one with a 55-47 win over the Tigers.

“In the first half we had trouble blocking out,” said Eagles head coach Sean Comeaux. “In the second half, (VC senior) Reiss Hebert came to play. He blocked his butt off and he ended up with 12 points.”

Hebert played the post with authority all night, forcing his big body in under the basket on the offensive end to get second and third shooting opportunities. The Eagles forced the issue defensively as a unit, getting defensive boards and steals, capitalizing with points more often than not.

“We’re a second half team. We prove that every single night,” said Comeaux.

Coming out of the break down three, VC’s Aaron David found himself unguarded on the perimeter. David set his feet and drained a trey to erase the deficit and get the Eagles going in the right direction. A seesaw battle ensued, with neither team able to separate itself from the other.

At the end of three quarters, it was 38-37 Hanson.

Both teams played aggressive defense to start the fourth quarter and at the 6:00 mark, neither had scored a point. VC’s Brennan Gallet ended the stalemate with a trey. David then hustled on defense and forced Hanson to lose the ball out of bounds. Hebert got it on the inbounds pass in the low post and made the deuce to make it 42-38. On the next Hanson inbound play, VC’s Blair Landry picked off the ball and again found Hebert under the hoop. Hebert made the two pointer on third effort.

When, moments later, Eagle Joey Faulk hit from short range, VC led 48-38 with just 2:30 left to play.

Hanson was forced to shoot for three-pointers and hope for rebounds, but the Eagles were having none of it. When the bombs would not fall, Hanson began fouling. But, VC hit on 5-of11 free throws in the quarter, plenty to keep the visitors at bay and ice the victory.

David led the Eagles with 16 points. He had four treys and was 2-for-4 from the line. Hebert and Gallet each had 12 points, Landry had 11 points and Shay LaPorte had four points.

With the win, the Eagles improve their record to 7-10. More importantly, VC has won its last three straight and is 1-0 in district play.

Hanson is now 0-1 in district and 5-9 overall.

The Eagles will travel to Gueydan (8-7, 0-1) on Tuesday, Jan. 17 to continue play in District 8-1A. Gueydan fell 59-41 to Ascension Episcopal in the district opener for both teams Friday night.