Aquinas (Hammond) star
Zavieral Jackson and
Tina Roy of Kaplan earned Most Valuable Player honors in leading their respective teams to victory in the Louisiana High School Coaches Association boys and girls All-Star Games at Prather Coliseum in Natchitoches.
Jackson scored eight of his 19 points in 47 seconds to lift the East boys past the West, 105-103. Roy, a South Carolina commitment, scored 21 points as the West girls stopped the East, 92-80.
The West overcame a 43-37 halftime deficit with the help of a 9-0 second-half run that featured Roy scoring five points. The West led by as many as 18 points before the East closed to within two in the final minutes. The West then went on an 11-2 run that all but sealed the outcome.
East Ascension (Gonzales) player
Symone Miller led the East with a game-high 21 points.
The boys contest was won in much more dramatic fashion, as Jackson hit a pair of 3-pointers and two free throws in wiping out a 97-93 deficit. The game featured a combined 26 3-pointers. The West's
Jalan West of Bossier (Bossier City) led all scorers with 21 points.
GATHERS COLLECTS MORE AWARDS
Riverside Academy junior forward
Ricardo Gathers continued to reap honors with his selections as the Gatorade Louisiana Boys Basketball Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player on the Louisiana High School Sportswriters Association Class 2A All-State team.
The awards come shortly after Gathers was named MVP of the state championship game, leading
Riverside (Reserve) to its second consecutive title. In being named to his third consecutive all-state team, the 6-foot-8, 240-pound Gathers was named MVP for the second year in a row.
Gathers now is a finalist for the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year award.
During a season in which the Rebels finished 33-6, Gathers averaged 20.7 points, 16.2 rebounds, 3.9 blocked shots, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game. In the 82-61 championship-game victory over Evangel Christian Academy (Shreveport), the left-handed Gathers scored 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds, including six offensively. Gathers also was named to the Louisiana High School Athletic Association All-Top 28 Tournament team.
Gathers is considered the state's leading junior prospect. Among schools recruiting him are LSU, North Carolina, UCLA, USC, Oregon, St. John's, Baylor and Texas. Gathers said he will attend several summer basketball camps, including the NBA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, Va., and the Lebron James Camp in Akron, Ohio.
"I think I need to work on my versatility this summer,'' Gathers told the Times-Picayune of New Orleans. "It's going to be a busy summer."
ALL-STATE BASKETBALL TEAMS CHOSEN
The first girls title for
Winnfield since 1964 earned
Christina Gray MVP honors and Patrece Carter Coach of the Year selection on the LWSA Class 2A All-State team.
Gray, a University of Louisiana at Monroe signee, averaged 11.5 points per game on a team that featured four double-figure scorers under the guidance of one of its former players.
Despite a second-round loss,
Donaldsonville's Greg Hill was named the boys Coach of the Year for having led the Tigers to a 28-4 record and a No. 3 seed.
Arcadia sophomore guard
Sh'lonte Allen was the Class 1A girls MVP after averaging 26 points per game while guiding her team to its second consecutive state championship game appearance. She scored 32 points in a 64-59 loss to Plain Dealing.
Senior
Howard Wilson won the boys honor after averaging 23.5 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for
North Central (Lebeau), which lost in the semifinals to eventual state champion White Castle.
White Castle's Tammy Pierce was chosen girls Coach of the Year and North Central's Butch Fontenot won the boys award. Fontenot won his 800th career game during the regular season.
Seniors
Brittany Maddox of Fairview (Grant) and
Marvin Frazier of Zwolle were named respective MVPs of the Class B All-State team. Maddox averaged 20.6 points per game for Fairview, which has won five consecutive state titles. Maddox won the award for the second consecutive year after also averaging eight rebounds and five assists per game. The 6-9 Frazier averaged 19.3 points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots per game.
James Welch of
Hathaway (Jennings) and Randy Carlisle of
Castor were the boys and girls coaches of the year, respectively.
James Holmes was named the Class C boys Coach of the Year after guiding
Family Christian (Baton Rouge) to the state finals. Angela Willis won the girls honor after leading
Starks to a 32-7 record.
Pelican's
Zikiteran Woodley and
Skylar Chenevert of Plainview (Glenmora) were the respective boys and girls MVPs.
BATON ROUGE, OPELOUSAS WIN
The
Baton Rouge girls track and field team and the
Opelousas boys finished first in the Green Devil Relays at Plaquemine High.
Baton Rouge won all three relays and six individual events to score 147 points for a 51-point victory over Scotlandville (Baton Rouge). Opelousas also defeated runner-up Scotlandville, 119-75.
Baton Rouge High's Dominique Brisco won the 100-meter hurdles (15.01 seconds), the 300 hurdles (47.03) and the triple jump (37 feet, 9 inches). She also ran legs on the 800 and 400 relays.
LITTLE, CAPPEL SHINE AT RODEO
Sami Little of
Hackberry was named the All-Around Cowgirl and Landon Cappel of
Reeves was chosen as the All-Around Cowboy at the Southeast Louisiana High School Rodeo Club's 10th event sanctioned by the Louisiana High School Rodeo Association at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales.
Little finished third in both breakaway roping and goat tying. Cappel won the saddle bronc riding and bull riding competition.
The Lamar-Dixon Expo Center will be the site of the Louisiana High School Rodeo Finals from June 12-18.
