Peabody (Alexandria) weathered its toughest boys basketball game of the season to defeat
Bossier, 61-58, in capping its 41-0 record with the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class 4A state championship. The Warhorses’ hard-fought victory highlighted a week of action the LHSAA Top 28 Tournament, in which six other state champions were crowned at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Cajundome.
Elsewhere, Brother Martin (New Orleans) won the Class 5A crown, Vidalia claimed the Class 3A championship, Riverside (Reserve) took the Class 2A title, Christian Life (Baton Rouge) prevailed in Class 1A, Rapides (Lecompte) finished first in Class B and Athens earned the Class C top spot.
Classes 5A-4A: Comebacks fuel victories
Both Brother Martin and Peabody had to rally from fourth-quarter deficits to win their respective state titles. In so doing, ninth-seeded Brother Martin defeated No. 2 Scotlandville (Baton Rouge) in the final, 55-54, after having upset top-seeded St. Augustine (New Orleans) in the quarterfinals.
Patrick Swilling, the title-game’s most valuable player, scored 10 fourth-quarter points and came up with a pivotal steal in the waning seconds. Swilling, the son of former New Orleans Saints linebacker Patrick Swilling, finished with 18 points and five rebounds.
For the third time in four playoff games, Brother Martin (29-10) overcame a double-digit, third-quarter deficit. The Crusaders trailed, 41-33, to begin the fourth quarter. Scotlandville (34-6) fell despite J.J. Thomas’ 25 points and 19 rebounds, which tied the all-time Class 5A record for rebounds.
Brother Martin went ahead for good when Dante Butler’s layup with 31 seconds left gave the Crusaders a 55-54 advantage and their first lead since the first quarter. Scotlandville’s Levie Wright drove the lane in the hopes of tying the score, but Swilling stripped the ball to preserve Brother Martin’s sixth state title and its first since 2005.
As for Peabody, it fell behind for the only time in its game when Bossier’s Joseph James hit a 3-point shot that put the Bearkats ahead, 58-57, with just over two minutes remaining. As he had all season, though, Markel Brown came to the rescue. He answered with an emphatic, two-handed dunk before Dee Wagner made two free throws.
Brown, an Oklahoma State signee and the game’s MVP, finished with 25 points, five rebounds, two assists, four blocked shots and a steal. Alexandria’s sixth state title was its fourth in the last 10 years. Alexandria had dedicated its season to the memory of Wayne Powell. The former Warhorses standout and assistant coach died last year during a pickup game at the age of 27.
Classes 3A-2A: Vidalia, Riverside enjoy routs
Conversely, Vidalia (32-4) and Riverside (38-6) won their state championships going away. Vidalia blasted Carroll (Monroe), 82-59, after having led by as many as 30 points. Gary Stewart earned MVP honors with 17 points and 16 rebounds. Torrey Dixon added 25 points and eight rebounds.
Riverside went on a 13-2 run to complete the first quarter and was never challenged again in blitzing Jonesboro-Hodge (Jonesboro), 84-61. MVP Ricardo Gathers, a highly touted 6-foot-6 sophomore, scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds. T.J. Williams led Jonesboro-Hodge (26-10) with 22 points.
Classes 1A-and-below: Christian Life recovers
Christian Life (36-5) failed to score in the second quarter and yet still beat defending Class 1A state champion Country Day (Metairie Park), 49-42. In overcoming a 14-9 halftime deficit, Christian Life made 61.9 percent of its second-half shots, and MVP McCall Tomeny scored 18 of his 20 points.
Country Day’s Matt Derenbecker, an LSU signee, scored a game-high 24 points. CLA’s Patrick Robinson was the only other double-figures scorer with 10 points.
Christian Life won its fourth state title in five years, having beaten Country Day (41-6) in the finals in both 2007 and 2008. Country Day stopped Christian Life in last year’s semifinals.
Christian Life’s failure to score in the second quarter broke the existing Class 1A Top 28 record for fewest second-quarter points. The Crusaders also tied composite Top 28 records for fewest points in a quarter-and-a-half.
Rapides started slowly, too, but once the Mustangs (44-5) got on a roll, they overwhelmed second-seeded Midland, 83-61, en route to the Class B state title. After falling behind early in the second quarter, Rapides went on a 45-15 run that gave it a 65-40 lead through three quarters.
C.J. Johnson scored 22 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked a shot. Teammate Keldrick matched Johnson with 22 points. Midland (34-4) made just 3 of 16 3-pointers after connecting on 14 in a 79-78 semifinal victory over Zwolle. Midland was making its first Top 28 appearance since 2004 and was looking for its second state title and its first since 1977.
Athens (40-4) had a much more difficult time in beating Pleasant Hill (33-7) for the Class C championship. Athens rallied from a one-point deficit in the final 1:01 with MVP Willie Cato hitting a go-ahead layup before adding two free throws.
Girls basketball: Plaisance honored again
Theresa Plaisance of Vandebilt Catholic (Houma) added to her growing list of honors with her second consecutive selection as the Gatorade Louisiana Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
Plaisance already was recognized as a McDonald’s High School All-American and earned MVP honors for leading the Terriers (35-1) to the Class 4A state championship. The 6-foot-5 Plaisance, an LSU signee, averaged 16.4 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots per game.
Football: Sams commits to Kansas State
Quarterback Daniel Sams doesn’t yet have a school for his senior year of high school, but he has committed to play in college for Kansas State.
Sams was expelled from Salmen (Slidell) last fall and is waiting for the St. Tammany Parish School Board to hear his petition for readmittance. He has been attending a parish alternative school. Before being expelled for a non-football incident, Sams had thrown for 1,295 yards and 10 touchdowns in seven games. He also had rushed for 1,033 yards and 12 touchdowns.
