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I was all set to write my column this week about my first-hand experience doing the NFL Scouting Combine, but that will have to be put on hold until next week’s edition.
I saw something first-hand on Friday night that was far more important than my tongue-in-cheek effort to be an athlete for a day.
I was blessed this week to attend three high school playoff games – two second-round games on Tuesday and Wednesday, then a Quarterfinals game on Friday night.
That Friday night game was the one I want to talk about, specifically something that I witnessed after it all took place.
To cap off my work week, I caravanned out to East Ascension to see the Quarterfinals matchup between the Spartans and the Central Lafourche Trojans.
What an epic night for high school basketball.
The gym was slam-packed – there were no seats left in the pretty roomy gym. Both fan bases supported their teams in big numbers.
East Ascension had the left side of the gym – a lot of which was dominated by a strong student presence. The stage area (where I sat), was also heavily dominated by East Ascension. The Spartans had a booster club up there where several older guys gathered and rooted for their team.
The right side of the gym belonged to Central Lafourche, and the folks from Mathews showed up in droves.
Clad in their customary green and gold, Central Lafourche fans were not afraid to travel to Gonzales. They packed the bench-side of the gym, and made noise from start-to-finish.
It was a heavyweight matchup between two prized fighters who had strong ambitions to win the state championship.
And it didn’t disappoint.
Friday’s game was a masterpiece – one of the best games that I’ve seen all season. The Trojans started out red-hot and controlled most of the action, leading big both at halftime and at the end of the third quarter.
But when push came to shove, it was East Ascension who laughed last and won the game, using a huge fourth-quarter rally to end the Trojans’ season.
As the buzzer sounded to mark the end of the game, emotions poured out onto the floor. The Spartans’ players and students stormed the floor, then the team celebrated its Top 28 berth by cutting down the nets.
On the opposite side of all the action, Central Lafourche’s coaches and players were huddled together for the final time in the 2015-16 season.
Obviously heartbroken by what had gone down on the floor, the Trojans’ senior class rose above the adversity and acted with class.
Senior guard Anfernee Poindexter congratulated the Spartans on the victory, then challenged the Trojans underclassmen to keep the school’s basketball program pushing forward in the future.
Standout senior forward Lionel Batiste did the same, saying that the loss hurt, before adding that the memories he made playing for Central Lafourche will last forever.
The young men that spoke to reporters after the game were all devastated, but they acted with poise. They were all mature beyond their years.
The Central Lafourche basketball season ended a few wins short of the State Title, but that team was loaded with winners. The way they responded to Friday’s loss said exactly that.
The same can be said for the ways that Ellender and H.L. Bourgeois handled Friday’s tough losses.
The Braves took their lumps and got beat on Friday at Natchitoches Central – a loss that ended the team’s season.
As-always the case, H.L. Bourgeois coach Andrew Caillouet was gracious and praised the play of his foe. Caillouet noted that his team has just one senior, and that he’s proud of how far the Braves were able to go.
Ellender coach Cornell Scott did the same, even when his team got robbed of a shot to play overtime against Bossier.
I won’t mince words, nor sugarcoat anything. The officials 100 percent blew the call on Friday and cost the Patriots a shot at overtime on Friday night. The replay doesn’t lie. The photos are real.
The officials blew it, and Ellender was cost a shot.
But like the Trojans and Braves, the Patriots’ head man, too, acted in class to put a bow on his season.
Scott admitted that he thought the officials missed the call, but he didn’t blame them for the loss. He said that his team could have done things differently throughout the game to avoid being in that situation.
Instead of focusing on the negative, Scott said that he challenged his team to respond to the bad call in a positive way. He said it was a teachable moment, because it’s an example of how life isn’t always fair, nor perfect.
If it were me, I couldn’t have been that positive.
But somehow, someway, Scott was able to pull it off.
Just like his other colleagues did, as well.
Kudos to those guys for bowing out with class.
The East Ascension student body stormed the court on Friday to celebrate the team’s win.
