Casey Awards breaking down best in Tri-parish prep hoops

After years of waiting, the time has arrived, my dear friends.

With the prep basketball season beginning to wrap up, that means it’s time for the First Annual Casey Awards, which will detail prep basketball excellence in the Tri-parish area.

This year, we’re handing out seven awards to student athletes from four different schools in the area.

I know excitement is eating everyone up, so here are the 2010 Casey Awards.

Please, hold you applause until all winners have been announced.

2010 Casey Awards:

The “That Boy Got Game” Award: (given to the Tri-parish boys’ basketball most valuable player) Winner: Shavon Coleman, Thibodaux High School

There are several worthy candidates throughout the region for this one, but no star shines brighter than Coleman, who lit the Bayou District on fire this season.

Coleman carried the Tigers all the way to the District 8-5A title.

The 6-foot-6-inch standout dropped 30 or more points virtually every Tuesday and Friday night of the basketball season, and that was with two and three defenders hanging off him at all times.

Coleman is heading to UL-Monroe following the season and the Warhawks are definitely getting a top-notch player.

The “That Girl Got Game” Award: (given to the Tri-parish girls’ basketball most valuable player) Winner: Theresa Plaisance, Vandebilt Catholic High School

This one was a no-brainer. If there were a Casey Award for MVP of the entire country, Plaisance would maybe win that one, too.

The McDonald’s All-American was absolutely phenomenal for the Lady Terriers this season, finding ways to score in both the paint and on the perimeter.

That versatility allowed Vandebilt to go back to the 4A State Championship game for the second-straight season.

Like Coleman, Plaisance also has next-level ambitions as she is headed to LSU following the season.

I always said the Lady Tigers would never see another player as dominant as Sylvia Fowles, but with a little more muscle, Plaisance can certainly reach that level during her stay in Baton Rouge. This kid is truly something else.

The Boys’ Basketball X’s and O’s Wizard: (Awarded to the Tri-parish boys’ basketball Coach of the Year) Winner: Scott Gauthreaux, Ellender

Gauthreaux has had an excellent coaching career at Ellender. But this season was one of his best coaching jobs of the coach’s career.

The Patriots were an experienced bunch coming into the season. However, Gauthreaux didn’t let high expectations get the better of his team and the Patriots made a deep playoff run. Another thing that I like about Gauthreaux is he plays a very active role in coaching his team during the game. Whether slapping the floor to signal to his team to play tough defense or drawing up a savvy play in a huddle during a timeout, Coach Gauthreaux did a great job for the Patriots this season.

The Girls’ Basketball X’s and O’s Wizard: (Awarded to the Tri-parish girls’ basketball Coach of the Year) Winner: Kathy Luke, Vandebilt Catholic High School

Vandebilt had a tremendous team this season full of tremendous players. And that’s exactly why Luke is going to win the Casey Award for girls’ Coach of the Year.

In a sport where there is only one ball and five players who want that ball, it’s sometimes difficult to keep everyone happy. But Luke kept everyone on the same page all season and the Lady Terriers flourished.

I’ve heard outsiders claim that, “Anyone could win with a team who has Theresa Plaisance,” but Luke now has 600 wins for her career. And Theresa Plaisance has only been with the team for two seasons, so Luke has obviously done great things for the Vandebilt program over the long haul.

The “Yeah, That Just Happened” Award: (Awarded to the Tri-parish area’s most exciting player): Winner: Jerrod Brown, Terrebonne High School

Brown never met a shot that he didn’t want to take.

And that reckless, aggressive style of basketball made the Terrebonne senior one of the most explosive players in the state this season.

Whether attempting a 30-foot 3-pointer or swooping into the lane in traffic to try a reverse layup, Brown was the offensive leader of the Tigers this season and he was always a threat on any given night to post a big-time scoring night.

The Tigers’ team followed suit and there was no team in the Tri-parish area that played more close games than Terrebonne this season. Brown was like lightening in a bottle and he wins this Casey Award over South Lafourche’s Rusty Borne, who is probably one of the Top 5 most athletic student athletes in the entire state. But Brown’s fearless mentality on the floor wins him the award.

The Plan B Award: (Awarded to the Tri-parish area’s best bench player): Winner: Trovon Reed, Thibodaux High School

It’s really not fair to the rest of the Bayou District that Reed wasn’t in Thibodaux’s starting five this season.

Granted, he’s not nearly as polished a basketball player as he is in football, but Reed was a very solid guard for the Tigers this season, giving Thibodaux a spark off the bench in several of the team’s games.

He also was a very nice compliment to Coleman, as Reed’s penetrate-and-kick ability forced opponents to pay less attention to the center, which allowed the UL-Monroe commitment to put more points on the board.

Reed was not a starter on paper, which will allow him to win this Casey Award, but there was never an important moment during the team’s season that he wasn’t on the floor.

Rookie of the Year: (Awarded to the Tri-parish area’s best first-year varsity player): Winner: Raina Diggs, Terrebonne High School

Usually when someone tells me that a freshman is the starting point guard for a 5A girls’ basketball team, I expect to next hear about how poorly that team is playing.

But that was not the case for Diggs and the Lady Tigers as the freshman point guard led Terrebonne to the second round of the 5A state playoffs.

Diggs was not a player that would take anyone’s breathe away this season, but that is exactly why she wins this award: she kept her youthful mistakes to a minimum and did the necessary things her team needed to win.

Terrebonne will lose its share of players to graduation, but the team is going to be in good hands for the next three seasons with Diggs handling the basketball.