By Dave Moormann
MaxPreps.com
Jacobee Lee capped Shreveport Huntington’s furious fourth-quarter rally with a put-back of a missed shot to lift Class 5A’s top-ranked boys basketball team to a 66-64 victory over sixth-ranked West Monroe (16-5) in non-district action.
West Monroe led by as many as 21 at 4:04 of the third quarter Huntington (26-1) pressed and trapped its way back into contention.
“We're still trying to match other teams' intensity,” Huntington coach Mack Jones said. “Being out front and you guys writing about the No. 1 rankings, everybody plays us with the thought of beating No. 1. In the beginning, we were taking some quick jump shots. Once we settled down and saw what the defense gave us, all the kids contributed.”
Huntington’s JaRod Farmer scored a team-high 19 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter when his six-point outburst in 27 seconds cut West Monroe’s lead from 10 to four. Farmer a junior forward, scored only two points through the first 28 minutes.
West Monroe’s D.D. Brown scored a game-high 20 points.
Huntington erupted for 33 fourth-quarter points in matching its total output from the first three quarters.
“It’s something special,” said Lee, a Grambling State signee, who finished with six points. “We've got the team to win state. (The fourth quarter was) energy and intensity – everything I want.”
Panthers prevail thanks to Brian Willaims
Although ranked first in the state in Class 4A, Baton Rouge Glen Oaks found out quickly that its District 6-4A opponents mean business.
Glen Oaks began district play with a victory, which it has done in 23 of 25 games, but it surely didn’t come easy. The Panthers had to overcome a four-point deficit in the final 3:39 to turn back upstart Zachary, 61-58.
Brian Williams, a 6-foot-5 junior, scored four pivotal points in a row for the Panthers to prevent the upset. After his jump shot tied the score at 1:52, he provided what proved to be the game-winner on a contested jumper just inside the 3-point line with 31.1 seconds left.
Williams finished with a team-high 20 points and 11 rebounds despite sitting out much of the first half after committing three first-quarter fouls. Trey Drye and Trevor Kendrick each contributed 17 points, with Drye matching Williams’ 11 rebounds.
“When you’re No. 1, everybody looks to knock you off, so you’ve got to come out and play with a sense of urgency,” Glen Oaks veteran coach Harvey Adger said. “We didn’t do that for a while, but when we had to we showed some resiliency, and we never gave up when we were down.
“We continued to believe, and then when we started knocking down a few shots, we were able to dig ourselves out of the hole we got ourselves into.”
Zachary scored the first nine points of the third quarter to take a 35-29 lead and remained competitive throughout a fourth quarter that featured four ties and seven lead changes.
Zachary held a 53-49 advantage with 3:39 left before Glen Oaks charged back. The Panthers finally took the lead again before Phillip Carey put Zachary ahead at 58-57 on a 3-pointer from the top of the key. It was the last of Carey’s game-high 22 points, and the final points for Zachary. Carey also grabbed 11 rebounds.
Williams’ jumper allowed Glen Oaks to reclaim the lead, and Andre Scott clinched the victory with two free throws with 8.4 seconds left. Zachary (14-9) missed two 3-pointers down the stretch in its bid to catch Glen Oaks.
Charles Winborne joins exclusive 3,000-point club
Loyola standout Charles Winborne became the third Shreveport player to top 3,000 career points with a 35-point effort that gave him 3,027 points.
The record holder is former Boston Celtics center Robert Parish, who scored 3,562 during his 134-game career at Woodlawn that ended in 1972. Southwood’s Paul Marshall scored 3,151 points in his 138-game career at Southwood that concluded in 1991.
Girls Basketball: Home not so sweet for Byrd in loss to Southwood
The return of one player and the absence of another may have helped Southwood hand Byrd its first home loss of the season in a girls game between two Shreveport rivals.
Southwood’s Tyria Snow returned from a 27-½ game absence, while Byrd’s No. 2 scorer, Toree Mason, missed the game to attend President Barack Obama’s inauguration.
Freed, in part, by Snow’s presence, Kayla Walker connected on six 3 pointers in scoring a game-high 24 points to lead Southwood to a 60-48 victory.
“I felt really good on the wing shooting the 3s,” Walker said. “I wasn't really sure. I just had to take my time and wait on my team to help me get those shots.”
Southwood (23-6, 3-0 District 1-5A), without Snow, dropped a two-point decision to Byrd in the semifinals of the Doc Edwards Invitational last month. Playing with a torn ACL in her left knee, Snow made her first appearance since a 30-second stint in the season opener.
Brandace Latin led Byrd (21-9, 1-2) with 23 points but scored just two third-quarter points. Byrd lost its second in a row after a 10-game winning streak.
“In the first half, Brandace pretty much did what she normally does,” Byrd coach Toni Martinez said. “They had a hard time stopping her outside or in. They put her on lockdown in the second half.
“(Mason) gives us another option to go when they shut Brandace down. We really missed her on the other side of the floor.”
Wrestling: Holy Cross cruises to team crown
Steven Kleamenakis, the 215-pound champion, helped lead New Orleans Holy Cross to the team title in the 18-team Division II Classic in Zachary.
Kleamenakis defeated Benton’s Tanner Crutsinger, 9-2, for Holy Cross’ lone individual championship. Even so, Holy Cross had little trouble in outdistancing the rest of the field with 222 points. Lafayette Teurlings Catholic finished second with 157.5 points to Bossier City Parkway’s 152 points.
Mark Carrier of Teurlings Catholic produced the most pins in the least amount of time. Carrier won the 103-pound weight class with four pins in a total of 7 minutes, 51 seconds. He pinned Live Oak’s Cormier in the final in 3:50.