By HARRIET PROTHRO PENROD, Journal Sports
LAKE CHARLES – Just how big is Scotlandville’s Dorian Booker?
The announcers called him a 7-footer. The Hornets’ roster lists him at 6-10. And Huntington Raiders coach Mack Jones described him as 6-11 and 280 pounds.
Let’s just say the UNO signee is really big.
Too big for Huntington, which fell 63-43 to No. 1 seed Scotlandville in the semifinals of the LHSAA Select Division I boys’ basketball playoffs Wednesday afternoon at Burton Coliseum.
The Hornets, who have made it to the title game every season since 2009, will face No. 3 seed Catholic-Baton Rouge in Saturday’s finals. Scotlandville, which defeated John Curtis for the Division I title in 2022, is going for back-to-back championships and its eighth overall state title.
The Raiders (24-9) fell in the semifinals of the state tournament for the second year in a row.
“He did what he does,” Jones said of Booker, who finished with a game-high 25 points, 11 rebounds, and five blocks. “He doesn’t try to get out of his game and he’s difficult to defend in the middle.”
The No. 4-seed Raiders didn’t go down without a fight, however.
Down by 14 points in the first minute of the second quarter, Huntington fought back to come within two just as the first half was ending. When Scotlandville’s C’zavian Teasett converted both ends of a 1-and-1 with 2.5 seconds left before the break, the Hornets were able to go into the locker room with a narrow 33-29 lead.
Trailing 22-9 after the first quarter, the Raiders outscored the Hornets 20-11 in the second quarter.
“Being down by 14 at one point and to cut it within two (right before the half), I’m proud of our guys,” said Jones. “It could have gone bad at that point.”
Trey Carter and Kentravis Green led the second-quarter comeback, leading Huntington on a 9-0 run that brought the Raiders’ within two right before halftime. Carter (2-for-3 from 3-point range) hit two from long-range while Green (1-for-2) sank one from deep to spark the comeback.
“It took a lot of energy getting back into the game,” added the Huntington coach. “We just couldn’t make shots in the second half.”
The Raiders, who shot just 35 percent from the field in the contest, were outscored 30-14 in the final two quarters. At the start of the third quarter, the Hornets went on an 11-0 run – led by Booker’s six points – to open up a 15-point lead.
The Raiders were only able to come within 13 points the rest of the game.
The outcome continued the state tournament funk for Huntington, which fell to 0-5 in semifinal playoff games, including losses to the top seed in the last three years.
Huntington was led by Chris Carpenter – who fouled out with 4:26 left – with 14 points, followed by Carter with 10. Taylor and Jacob Stewart added 8 and 6, respectively, for the Raiders.
“Our guys showed a lot of grit and fight,” said Jones.
Scotlandville dominated in the paint, outrebounding Huntington 30-22 – with 23 of those on the defensive end.
All-in-all, Jones was pleased with the performance of his team this season.
“It was grinding, especially after playing Southwood in the quarterfinal game,” he said.
Huntington, which finished second in District 1-4A, defeated undefeated in District 1-5A Southwood twice this season – 50-42 in the in-season matchup and 48-44 in last week’s quarterfinal game.
Contact Harriet at sbjharriet@gmail.com