Both games of the Jennings at St. Louis hoops doubleheader tonight have big stakes, with a plethora of power points up for grabs in the girls game and a crucial win in a crowded District 4-3A race on the line in the boys game.
A rule change Friday giving the higher seeds home court advantage in the basketball playoffs added to the stakes in the girls game. Both St. Louis (Division III) and Jennings (Class 3A) are in a tight race for the number four seed in their playoff bracket.
The Saints (13-12, 4-3) were fifth in last week’s rankings update, just four-tenths of a point behind fourth-ranked Ursuline Academy. St. Louis has a chance to make a big move this week, with a game against 23-win Iota coming up Friday. The Saints won the first game with Jennings by six points.
Jennings (19-6, 3-4), led by Jaz Sonnier and Lyric Deshotel, were in perfect harmony Friday night, upsetting South Beauregard in overtime. That win gave the Dogs a big haul of power points based on South Beauregard’s 27 wins. A win over the Saints will provide another boost for Jennings, which has won three of four since opening district play with three straight losses. In last week’s update Jennings was fifth in the power rankings, just 17 hundreths of a point behind Ville Platte for the crucial fourth seed.
Saints head coach Tony Johnson said he isn’t concerned with any rankings.
“Right now we are taking one game at a time and play to the best of our ability,” he said.
“They get out and try to play fast. They can do that well because they are well-coached by ???? Guidry. We are going to try to slow them down and play our game. We have an advantage playing at home. They play everyone close at their place and just beat South Beauregard there. In the first game, we played excellent defense in the first half then had some breakdowns in the second half. We were able to keep them off the boards and keep them from playing fast. We executed in the half court sets.”
In the boys game, St. Louis (15-6, 4-1) will look to remain atop the district standings. The Saints are currently tied for the top spot with South Beauregard. St. Louis opened district play with a 61-53 win at Jennings Jan. 13. Jennings (14-8, 3-2) has won eight of its last 10, with the two losses coming at home to the district co-leaders. The Bulldogs are led by the trimvirate of Davion Madden, Travis Etienne and Sylk Woods.
Saints head coach Rick Lebato said Etienee makes Jennings go, not just due to his athletic gifts.
“Anytime he is on the floor, he is just so competitive,” Lebato said. “He will always bring them back. And, their guard play is much improved. They are very solid, they have three solid guys. You can never relax, they will make shots to come back very quickly.”
That was the case last year at St. Louis, as Etienne led a Jennings rally from a 14-point, fourth quarter deficit before Saints guard Bailey Hardy drilled a game-winner at the buzzer. Jennings made five straight threes to get back in the game. Etienne scored 22.
Lebato said a key for the Saints will be rebounding.
“(In the win at Jennings) We shot the three pretty well and we didn’t get beat up too bad on the boards,” he said. “If we don’t get by double digits on the boards, we are OK. A lot of times when we struggle it is when we have trouble on the boards.”
Lebato said he is thrilled to be atop the district race at the midway mark.
“We have played well, we are right at the top, I am very pleased with that, especially having so many first-timers,” he said. “Our passing is improving, our shooting percentages are slowly coming up, that has been a big plus in district.”
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