By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
With four losses in the last five years in the state championship game, you might think that the Calvary boys basketball team would be singularly focused on trying to erase those memories as they head into today’s title game against Country Day (Metairie).
The Cavaliers are indeed focused, but it’s not on what has happened in the last few years.
“Until you brought it up,” Calvary coach Victor Morris said, “that was the first time I thought about it.”
His Cavs will try for that elusive state title at 4 p.m. at Burton Coliseum in Lake Charles in the Select Division III championship game. Calvary is the No. 1 seed in the bracket and Country Day, a one-point winner in the semifinals over second-seeded Dunham, is No. 3.
“We are feeling good,” Morris said. “We’ve had two good days of preparation and getting ready to play.”
While Country Day was in a nail-bitter in its semifinal, the Cavaliers had won in a romp, dispatching Rosepine 87-55. A year ago, Calvary was the No. 4 seed but lost in the regional round. But in the four years previous to that, the Cavs have been in the finals, only to come up short.
This time, however, they are definitely the hunted. Calvary is the No. 1 seed with a 28-3 record. It’s even more impressive how close the Cavs could be for playing for a rare perfect season. The three losses have been by a combined five points.
Want to make that even more impressive (if possible)? Those three losses are all to teams in the state finals (St. Thomas More, Archbishop Hannan and Bossier).
“This is probably our deepest team,” Morris said. “Our guys defend at a high level. On offense, it’s hard to key in on one or two guys. On any given night, we can have five or six guys lead us in scoring.”
Morris feels as though a loss to St. Thomas More (a Division I Select finalist) in the Sunkist Shootout in late December may have been just what his team needed.
“We came back after that and played in the Bossier Tournament that had some really good teams and we just breezed through it,” he said. “I feel like right then, everything clicked. The guys got everything we have been talking about and preaching as a staff and we just went on a roll then.”
“Roll” might not be a string enough term. In the seven games after the St. Thomas More loss, Calvary won by an average of 32.2 points per game. Five of those games had a winning margin of 30 points or more.
What the results have shown is that the Cavaliers haven’t really had an off night all year.
“We’ve learned from those (losses),” Morris said. “That’s why it’s important to have the depth we have. The starting group may not be working out, but here come those guys subbing in to put us back in the game or keep us in it. These guys are ready to play on any given night.”
Country Day is 25-6 overall and, like Calvary, is a relatively young team with only one senior starter. Calvary and Country Day faced off in the 2022 semifinals with the Cavs winning 58-50.
“It starts on the defensive end and staying locked in on their personnel,” Morris said. “We have to get stops and then execute on offense. Country Day does a good job with different schemes and defense.”
Experience in reaching the finals might seem to be on Calvary’s side, but all of that doesn’t matter when the ball is tossed up,
“You always worry about how the game is going to start,” Morris said. “You wonder if guys are going to be jittery or how long it’s going to take to settle in. Honestly, that’s it. I’ve told our guys it’s the same game just on a different stage. We’ve been doing this all year.”
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com