By HARRIET PROTHRO PENROD, Journal Sports
LAKE CHARLES – It was going to take a near-flawless performance on both ends of the court by Calvary Baptist to keep No. 1-seeded Isadore Newman from capturing its second consecutive state title.
Defensively, the No. 3 seed Cavaliers were up to the task. Offensively, it was a struggle – they scored just two points in the first quarter and shot 20 percent (5-of-24) from the field in the first half. They were outscored 21-8 in the third quarter and found themselves down by 18 points in the second half.
But they never gave up.
“They’re going to do that every game,” Calvary head coach Vic Morris said of his team’s fight to stay in the contest after finding themselves in a deep hole. “No matter what, they play to the final buzzer.”
When the final buzzer sounded in Burton Coliseum Friday afternoon, Newman (32-6) had captured the LHSAA Division III Select championship with a 52-42 victory over Calvary.
The Cavaliers, playing in their fourth consecutive championship game, were trying to capture their first state title in boys’ basketball. The Greenies, on the other hand, were going for their 11th overall title.
And seniors Chris Lockett and Canin Jefferson made sure they accomplished that goal as the duo scored 30 of Newman’s 36 second-half points.
“These two guys took us home,” said Newman head coach Randy Livingston, who has had a hand in five of the school’s 11 state championships (three as a player and the past two as coach).
Jefferson scored all of his game-high 18 points in the second half while Lockett was named Most Outstanding Player after finishing with 16 points.
“They’re a big team, a talented team,” Morris said of Newman. “You almost have to do everything just right to be in the game. We played good defense. We just couldn’t make the shots.”
The Cavs used a strong defensive performance in the second quarter to hold the Greenies to just six points while using a 9-0 run to go into halftime trailing by just five points.
“To hold a team like that and come within five points at the half after trailing by 12 says a lot about our team,” said Morris.
A 9-0 run by Newman to close out the third quarter put the Greenies up by 18 points, but Calvary kept fighting back. When senior KJ Kennon hit a 3-pointer with just two minutes left in the game, the Cavs had come within seven points.
That was as close as Calvary would get as Newman went on a 10-7 run that once again gave the Greenies a double-digit lead.
Calvary outscored Newman 23-15 in the final frame, but that was not enough to overcome the Cavs’ slow offensive start.
Kennon finished with 15 points to lead the Cavs while sophomore Bubba Strong added 9 and junior Rondae Hill scored 8.
“They were a tough team,” said Hill. “They’re real big and talented. I think we executed defensively, we just didn’t have our best offensive game.”
While the season did not end the way the Cavs (26-9) had hoped, Morris is proud of what his team was able to accomplish this season.
“A lot of people thought we wouldn’t be here,” Morris said of making it to the championship game. “Especially when we lost two big guys from last year (Lebree Williams and Martin McDowell). But that’s just a testament to the culture at Calvary.”
Contact Harriet at sbjharriet@gmail.com