Northside's Tashawn Coleman (23) makes a move to the basket when STM played Northside in a hard fought district game, Friday, January 31, 2025 at Northside.

St. Thomas More head boys basketball coach Danny Broussard looks forward to seeing how his team responds when competing in a playoff-like atmosphere.

That's exactly the type of environment the Cougars experienced in Friday's District 4-4A opener on the road against rival Northside.

And the Cougars responded as well as Broussard would have liked them to respond as STM claimed a 47-40 victory over the Northside in front of a raucous crowd.

"Northside has a really good basketball team," Broussard said. "Anytime you can come to Northside and get a 'W' it is a good win. We are gearing up for the playoffs and it was a playoff atmosphere. You love getting the opportunity to play in that kind of environment."

With the win, the Cougars improved to 22-4 on the year and extended their winning streak to 11.

"I really love this team," said Broussard, whose Cougars have won 15 of their past 17 games. "They really play with a lot of effort every night. The thing about this team is that they are really good at making adjustments."

Offensively, the Cougars were led by Grayson Roy and Elijah Guidry, who combined for 26 of St. Thomas More's points.

Roy's offensive output came in the first half when he scored all 14 of his points, while Guidry, who finished with 12 points, had six in each half. Roy also had five rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal.

"Grayson, he plays tough," Broussard said. "He was tough in the post all night. He did everything for us."

While he was pleased with the play of both Roy and Guidry, Broussard was equally ecstatic to see several players step up.

"We had some guys make some big baskets for us," Broussard said. "(Matthew) Cook had a big 3-pointer for us right before halftime. That was a big shot and we had some guys on the bench really step up. We have nine different guys that can lead us in scoring on any given night."

It was a tough loss for the Vikings (18-5), who struggled from the free throw line and had a couple of breakdowns defensively late in the game that resulted in some easy baskets. The Vikings were 0-for-8 from the charity stripe and allowed back-to-back backdoor cuts for layups in the final minutes of the game.

"We talked about being patient and grinding out possessions," Broussard said. "That's what we wanted to do because we knew they would give us a hard time. Late in the game we ended up getting a couple of good looks on two nice backdoor cuts. That's what happens when you grind out possessions."

Offensively, the Vikings were led by Lavar Duncan as he finished as Northside's lone player to score in double-figures. Duncan ended the game with a team-high 12 points, seven rebounds, two steals and a block in the loss.