By PRESTON EDWARDS, Journal Sports
It was a full day of basketball Saturday at The Castle as Woodlawn hosted the inaugural edition of the Battle of the Boot Classic, and a good one for the local squads.
Boys teams from Booker T. Washington, Calvary Baptist, Captain Shreve and Woodlawn battled it out with visitors from various parts of I-49 in what turned out to be four competitive matchups. While the competition was intense on the court, the day ended with the teams from Shreveport-Bossier going 4-0.
Principal Grady Smith of Woodlawn spoke on the success of the event.
“I am proud of the event and how it turned out,” said Smith. “It is always good to get top-notch competition from championship caliber teams throughout the state to come north and play. All of the teams that participated are anticipated to make long playoff runs.
“We look for this to be an annual event at Woodlawn and hope to grow it in the coming years.”
Woodlawn coach Kenneth Goldman echoed that sentiment.
“The event was a success,” said Goldman. “All of the coaches and administrators who attended thought it was great.”
The host team capped the four-game classic with a 57-50 win over top-ranked Class 2A power Lakeview as Donavan Seamster posted 20 second-half points (23 in all) to lead the Knights to victory.
“We played well in certain spots. Donavan Seamster seemed to find his stroke and the bench really stepped up,” was coach Goldman’s postgame assessment of the win.
Woodlawn has now won four in a row heading towards the last two weeks of the regular season.
In other action, Calvary Baptist found a way to pull out a 63-61 victory against a tough Mansfield team. Labree Williams had yet another double-double (31 points and 14 rebounds) as the Cavs improved to 15-7. They are currently on a seven-game win streak.
Captain Shreve continued its winning ways as it got 26 points from the backcourt of Christian Ford and Kyron Reed to secure the 54-41 decision over 4A Opelousas. The Tigers got 13 points from Dillion Stephens in the loss.
The Lions of BTW bounced back from their loss to Huntington the night before to overpower Class 1A’s second-ranked team, Northwood-Lena. Jacobee Jackson and Calvin Collins combined for 40 to outpace the Gators 72-51. The visitors were sparked by Omarion Layssard and his 23-point outing.
The Battle of the Boot Classic was not the only Saturday hoops happening in Shreveport-Bossier on Saturday. The Bossier Bearkats took the freshmen and JV titles of the Bossier League playoffs defeating Captain Shreve in both finals, which were held at Airline.
