By Dave Moormann
MaxPreps.com
A pair of Class 4A teams upended their Class 5A opponents in the Hall of Fame Basketball Classic at LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Baton Rouge Glen Oaks boys (28-2) overcame a halftime deficit to beat fourth-ranked South Lafourche, 55-41, while the Baton Rouge St. Michael girls (32-1) avenged their only loss with a 61-43 victory over third-ranked Walker.
After trailing at halftime, 28-25, Glen Oaks held South Lafourche to 13 second-half points in winning its 21st consecutive game.
Tre’ Drye, voted the game’s Most Valuable Player, scored a game-high 20 points for Glen Oaks. Brian Williams added 16. South Lafourche (29-4) had only one double-figure scorer in Ryan Leday with 11 points.
Glen Oaks’ intense half-court defense held South Lafourche to six third-quarter points, as the Panthers finally took the lead for good on Trevor Kendrick’s baseline jumper with 28.5 seconds left in the period.
“We went back to the Glen Oaks tradition, and that’s defense,” Glen Oaks coach Harvey Adger said. “We had to stop their backdoor cuts and made them a perimeter team.”
“Their defense was the difference,” South Lafourche coach Brian Callais said. “To say we hung with one with the best teams in the state for three quarters is not bad.”
As for St. Michael, it led most of the game in its rematch with Walker. Jasmine Scott scored a game-high 25 points, while Jeanne Kenney earned Most Valuable Player honors in scoring 18 points. Mina Romito led Walker with 19.
“They were just a whole lot better than we were tonight,” Walker coach John McMillan said. “I thought we should have played better defensively. But they’re a great team and they had something to do with that.”
St. Michael jumped out early, with Kenney hitting two quick 3-pointers and St. Michael making 8 of its 14 first-quarter shots. The Warriors led by as many as 17 points in the second quarter and by double-digits the rest of the game.
Soccer: Shreveport Loyola enjoys stunning victory
Eighth-seeded Shreveport Loyola Prep (17-10) pulled off the upset of the soccer playoffs when it defeated No. 1-seed Houma Vandebilt Catholic (19-5-1) on penalty kicks in their Division II quarterfinal showdown.
The teams remained scoreless through regulation, two 10-minute overtime periods and two five-minute overtime periods before Loyola outscored Vandebilt Catholic on penalty kicks, 4-3.
Vandebilt Catholic’s T.J. Freeman made the first penalty kick to give the Terriers their only lead before an enthusiastic home crowd. Loyola’s David Adams responded with the tying goal before Vandebilt Catholic’s Ethan Himel had his attempt blocked.
With Loyola leading by its final count, Vandebilt Catholic had an opportunity to tie the score, but Chris Watson’s shot was blocked, as well. Josh Rains scored what proved to be the winning goal.
Loyola junior Michael Connor stepped into goal after senior keeper J.P. McPhillips shut out Vandebilt Catholic through regulation.
“Vandebilt was deserving of a No. 1 ranking all year long,” Loyola coach Stephen Slack said. “They are an incredible team, and they proved that. We were able to hang in there. I think we were able to sneak under the radar a little because we’re from north Louisiana and we don’t play many games around here. But I would never want to play them again.”
Vandebilt Catholic had appeared in seven consecutive finals, losing only in 2004 and 2008 on shootouts.
Wrestling: Seedings for state tournaments announced
Covington St. Paul’s and Metairie Archbishop Rummel each had three wrestlers seeded first for the Division I state tournament schedule Feb. 13-14 at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner.
Drawing No. 1 seeds for St. Paul were Chase Gourgues at 140 pounds, Korey Miller at 145 and Lee Morgan at 215. Rummel’s top seeds were 130-pound Johnny Calcote, 152-pound Tony Wood and 160-pound Bernie Dupuy.
Marrero Archbishop Shaw dominated Division II with four top seeds. Leading the Shaw contingent were Raymond Savoy at 125 pounds, Blaise Pertuit at 135, Kelly Leblanc at 145 and Alex Rutledge at 152.
Brusly drew a whopping eight top seeds in Division III, including Vincent Jeans at 285 pounds, Anthony Hood at 189 pounds, Christopher Couty at 171 pounds and Beau Haydel at 160 pounds.
Brusly’s other No. 1 seeds were Austin Schermer at 103, Kyle Busby at 112, Tyler Rockforte at 125 and Ty Welch at 140.
Baseball: Preseason polls released
The Louisiana Baseball Coaches Association has issued its preseason polls with Lake Charles Barbe atop the Class 5A rankings.
Defending champions Zachary and Baton Rouge Parkview Baptist earned the top spots in Class 4A and Class 3A, respectively. Parkview Baptist also is ranked 13th in Collegiate Baseball’s top 30 high school poll.
Shreveport Evangel Christian is first in the LBCA Class 2A poll, with Covington Northlake Christian No. 1 in the Class 1A rankings. The Class B top spot belonged to Baker Bethany Christian, with Baton Rouge Family Christian ranked first in Class C.
The polls were formulated from ballots submitted by coaches at the LBC A meeting. Weekly polls will be announced beginning on the second Tuesday of the regular season and continuing throughout the regular season.
Hall of Fame: Legendary coach passes away
Jerry Lovett, a longtime fixture at Calhoun, has died. He was 78.
During his 30-year coaching career, Calhoun won 631 basketball games, or nearly 22 per season. Lovett also was Calhoun’s head baseball and volleyball coach and assistant football and track coach.
“He touched a thousand, jillion people out this way,” West Ouachita principal Mickey Mertitt said. “He was looked upon as an icon.”
West Ouachita conducts an annual basketball tournament in Lovett’s honor, and the Calhoun Middle School gym is named for him.
Lovett was inducted into the Louisiana High School Athletic Association/Louisiana High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2002. He joined the Louisiana Tech Hall of Fame in 2003. He was named Mr. Baskeball by the Louisiana Basketball Coaches Association in 1995.
Lovett led Calhoun to the 1973 Class B state title after finishing as a semifinalist in 1972. He was chosen the Class B Coach of the Year in 1973 by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
