Preview: New Iberia Yellowjackets vs. Lafayette Lions
New Iberia and Lafayette are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2016, but not for long. The New Iberia Yellowjackets will head out on the road to challenge the Lafayette Lions at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. New Iberia is coming into the game hot, having won their last nine games.
New Iberia proved they can win big on Friday (they won by 39) but on Saturday they proved they can win the close ones too. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 42-40 win over Catholic - N.I. Given New Iberia's advantage in MaxPreps' Louisiana basketball rankings (they are ranked tenth, while Catholic - N.I. is ranked 91st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead New Iberia to victory, but perhaps none more so than Wayne Randall-bashay, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 11 rebounds. Randall-bashay is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last four games he's played. Another player making a difference was Otis Anderson, who scored 14 points along with six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Lafayette came tearing into Friday's match with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 15.3 points) and they left with even more momentum. They took down Barbe 45-29.
New Iberia is on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 11 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 19-3 record this season. As for Lafayette, they pushed their record up to 16-2 with that victory, which was their fourth straight at home.
Everything went New Iberia's way against Lafayette in their previous matchup back in January of 2023 as New Iberia made off with a 58-38 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for New Iberia since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
