By Daniel Green

ANACOCO — It was quite the reversal of fortunes.

A little over two weeks ago, the Anacoco Indians defeated the Simpson Broncos in the finals of the Simpson Tournament.

On Tuesday evening, the Broncos (8-3) garnered a measure of revenge by handing the Indians (10-1) their first loss of the season in the finals of the Vernon Parish Tournament, 42-34.

The victory allowed the Broncos to win the parish tournament for the first time since it was re-established five years ago, joining Leesville and Hicks as the only winners on the boys’ side of things.

After about a three-minute stretch where neither team was able to find the basket, it was Simpson senior Braxton Basco to get things going as he knocked down a three-pointer. Tournament MVP Brayden Cutts hit a couple of free throws to give Simpson a 5-0 lead, but an 8-3 surge by Anacoco, which featured two buckets by Emanuel Luzardo and a basket each from Landin Draughn and Dustin Welch, tied things up at 8-8 after eight minutes of play.

The pace of scoring remained at a snail’s pace in the second period as Anacoco built a 13-10 lead after another bucket from Welch. But Cutts and Basco each added a basket in the waning moments of the first half to send Simpson into the intermission with a 14-13 edge.

The third quarter was all Simpson, which got six points from Cutts during a 15-0 outburst, opening up a 29-13 advantage.

Anacoco finally stopped the bleeding early in the fourth period with a Luzardo free throw, but Simpson extended its lead to 19 points at its greatest, 38-19, following a Basco bucket.

The Indians put together an 11-0 surge to cut the gap to eight points, which included a three-pointer from Kaleb Goodwin. But Anacoco wouldn’t get any closer as Simpson held on for the victory.

Cutts led the way for Simpson with 14 points, while Basco added 12 points. Ethan Nash chipped in with nine points.

Welch was the lone Indian in double figures with 13 points.