Louisiana's Final Top 50 Class of 2010 Players

With the 2009-10 season now in the books, Louisiana Basketball Report and Louisiana Prep Insider has decided to list the top 50 players in the senior class. In what has been long awaited and much needed list, we have officially released what we feel is a list of the top 50 players in this years 2010 class. In the coming days and weeks, we will also list the top 20 for the 2011, 2012, and 2013 classes. We will also introduce the top 10 for next years crop of freshman for the 2014 class. So enjoy, and stay tuned. Now it is time for the rankings.

In a class that has had several Division-1 players sign this year, none stood out more in 2009-10 than Peabody’s Markel Brown. The 6’5” 180 lb senior and Oklahoma State signee really made his presence felt this year as he led the Warhorses to a 40-0 record and the 4A state title. With two highly impressive games in the Cajun Dome in March, Brown was clearly the best player at the Top 28 and all season as he led Peabody with a 32.5 ppg scoring average as well as a 41-0 record.  Brown is a super-athletic combo-guard that can handle the ball very well, defends, gets to the rim and finishes very well with acrobatic dunks and has a developing and very good 3-point shot. Brown was also named 4A State Player of the Year as well as the Louisiana Mr. Basketball winner as well as ESPN Rise All-American 2nd team.

The state’s #2 rated player is Christian Life Academy’s Langston Galloway from Baton Rouge, a St. Joseph’s (PA) signee. What really separated Galloway, a 6’3” 185 lb guard from the rest of the top five players is his ability to make his teammates better and the fact the he does all the little things so well that helps his team win. Yes, Galloway is an elite scorer and very good defender, but what he does when his shot isn’t falling is special. His ability to defend the basketball is impressive. He can score almost at will and can get to the rim with the best of them, but to dive on floors for loose balls, take a key charge, make the extra pass and also make the big shot, that is what makes him the state’s second-rated player. For the season Galloway averaged 26 ppg as well as 6 rebounds and 4 assists as he helped CLA and himself to get the Crusaders 4th state title in five years.

Coming in as the #3 rated player is LSU signee Matt Derenbecker from Metairie Park Country Day in Metairie. Derenbecker is a 6’7” 195 lb sharp-shooting guard that can flat score the basketball. At 6’7” his ability to look over the defense and pass the ball is really one of his strong points. He also handles the ball well enough to play the point at times. A two-time winner of the Gatorade Player of the Year award in Louisiana, the lefty led the 2009 Cajuns of Country Day to the state title along with current LSU player Eddie Ludwig. One of Derenbecker’s best skills is the way he gets his teammates involved. Everybody knows he can score but when he is doubled and tripled teamed, he passes the ball to open teammates extremely well. An underrated ball-handler, he can also get to the rim and finish as well. For the season Derenbecker averaged 25.5 ppg in his senior season.

The 4th rated senior in this year’s 2010 class is one of the state’s most successful players in terms of win/losses and state titles. Cedric Jenkins, the 6’2” 180 lb. scoring machine from LaPlace and Riverside Academy led the Rebels to their first state title in basketball in 2010. The Southern Mississippi signee helped lead a team that also boasted the state’s top rated sophomore Ricardo Gathers. Jenkins is a kid that battled through several injuries during high school and still had great seasons while at Reserve Christian and now Riverside. Coach Timmy Byrd called Jenkins “one of the best players I have ever coached” after the senior led his team to the state title. Besides being able to shoot the basketball, he can also handle it, defend it and is an underrated passer as well. With unlimited range on his shot, he was also defended tight, which allowed him to show his improved athleticism. Cedric really improved his stock this year. Always considered a top 10 player he really proved in the Cajun Dome that he is worthy of the #4 spot. On a team that had several talented players Jenkins averaged 19.9 ppg and 6 assists.

Rounding out the top five is another Oklahoma State signee in Brian Williams from Glen Oaks High School in Baton Rouge. Williams is an athletic wing that can really get up and down the court and isn’t afraid to make a highlight reel dunk or take a big shot. The 6’5” 200 lb guard is definitely going to be a great fit for the Cowboys of OSU and coach Travis Ford.  A bouncy kid, who can score the basketball with the best of the state, Williams was battled with injuries this year, which may have kept him from being a top 3 player. Even with a stress fracture in his shin, Williams still averaged 18.0 ppg and led his team to its 2nd straight Top 28 berth.


For the rest of the top 50 click here

For Our Scout.com Article click here

Top 28 Action Day 5: Class C, 1A, 2A, 4A and 5A State Championship Games

Championship Saturday!! What more can I ask for being a basketball junkie like I am? A day that is going to be filled with some of the state's top teams, nationally ranked players, undefeated teams and defending champions will all be on tap. One game that most people have their eyes set on will be today's Class 1A game featuring  LSU signee Matt Derenbecker(right) of Country Day and St. Joseph's signee Langston Galloway of Christian Life. This game has been played in the Cajun Dome every year for the past four. The first two meetings were won by Christian Life in the championship game, last year's meeting was a CLA loss in the semi's and this year's game is for the Title as well. This game not only features 4 Division 1 signees but it features very good friendship's as well. Derenbecker, Galloway and CLA's Patrick Robinson all played for the Mid-City Cyclones AAU team together that also featured Jesuit's Dominick Scelfo. Derenbecker, Galloway and Robinson have gotten very close over the past year and have often mentioned CLA's loss last year to the Cajuns. With an overwhelming amount of trash talk amongst the friends over the past year, all will be decided and setteled at 1:30 today in Lafayette. No more talking, no more "wait until saturday", all that is going to be left is to play ball and see what happens. This game is going to be fun to watch so you do not want to miss a single minute. The biggest X-factor of this year's game will be the play of 6'5" senior McCall Tomeny(below), whose 26 points led CLA over Plain dealing on thursday.

In the second session of the day, the 2A game will also feature a game amongst friends. Riverside Academy's Cedric Jenkins and Ricardo Gathers played AAU with Jonesboro-Hodge's TJ Williams with the Louisiana Select Nike team. Not sure if the players have sent a lot of texts to each other or not but one sure thing will happen and that is that no love will be lost when the teammates face each other today at 5:00. We will definitely be entertained as Williams, a 6'7" 230 lb senior will battle head to head with the 6'6" 225 lb sophomore Gathers. In the 5A game we will see Scotlandville against Brother Martin. SMHS will be led by Stephen F. Austin signee J-Jay Thomas and Levie Wright. BM will look to senior Patrick Swilling to lead the way. In the final game of the evening, it will be 40-0 Peabody taking on 38-1 Bossier. Peabody features 6'4" Oklahoma state signee Markel Brown(pictured above) and 6'6" sophomore Troy Jones. Bossier is led by junior Jalan West and sophomore JJ James.

Now it is time for our predictions where below you will see the daily talk and preview from Brady and Kevin with the Daily Advertiser. For further Top 28 Action coverage check in at the Daily Advertiser.

PREDICTIONS
Class C State Championship
Athens over Pleasant Hill

Class 1A State Championship
Christian Life over Country Day

Class 2A State Championship
Riverside over Jonesboro-Hodge

Class 4A State Championship
Peabody over Bossier

Class 5A State Championship
Scotlandville over Brother Martin

Class C Top 28 State Championship Capsules

Athens Trojans

Coach: Marcus Jackson.
Record: 39-4.
Seed: No. 2.

Playoff road: Beat Holy Rosary 91-25, Marion 76-47, Grace Christian 75-27, Spearsville 75-53

Top scorers: Devarius Critton, 6-2, Sr, 16.0 ppg; Willie Cato, 5-11, Sr, 15.0 ppg; Earvin Sneed, 5-11, So, 14.0 ppg; Quartez McDaniel, 6-2, Jr, 12.0 ppg.

Top 28 history: 11th appearance with three titles and five runner-up finishes.

Notes: In addition to an eventful recent history at the Top 28, Athens also brings a healthy resume to this year's Top 28. The Trojans have three wins over fellow semifinalist Saline, split two games with Class 1A semifinalist Arcadia, and also went 1-1 in two games against Class 4A Minden.

PLEASANT HILL EAGLES


Coach: Dale Skinner.
Record: 33-6.
Seed: No. 1.

Road to the Top 28: Beat McManus 89-38, Calvin 73-52, Grand Isle 65-47, Saline 65-51

Top scorers: Matthew Scott, 6-3, Sr, 17.0 ppg; Ledarius Holmes, 5-8, So, 13.0 ppg; Aaron Holmes, 5-8, Fr, 12.0 ppg; Latarius Turner, 6-2, Sr, 12.0 ppg; Damaris Holmes, 6-2, Jr, 11.0 ppg.

Top 28 history: Eighth appearance with two titles and three runner-up finishes.

Notes: Not only is Skinner the team's basketball coach, but he's also the principal of the school. Pleasant Hill was 3-2 against Zwolle and has wins over Many and Leesville this season.


Class 1A Top 28 State Championships

Country Day Cajuns

Coach: Mike McGuire.
Record: 41-5.
Seed: No. 2.

Playoff road: Beat Catholic-PC 91-47, Varnado 86-51, White Castle 69-53, Arcadia 64-56

Top scorers: Matt Derenbecker(right), 6-7, Sr, 25.5 ppg; Nick Hansel, 6-3, Jr, 12.5 ppg; Hunter Ham, 6-4, Sr, 10.5 ppg; Dylan Kavanagh, 5-11, Sr, 8.0 ppg.

Top 28 history: Ninth appearance with three titles and three runner-up finishes.

Notes: The Country Day-Arcadia semifinals pairing represents a rematch of last year's championship game won by the Cajuns, 61-47. Derenbecker was MVP of last year's championship game (31 points, nine rebounds). Country Day also defeated Arcadia, 80-58, in the 2008 semifinals.

Christian Life Academy

Coach: Carlo Maggio
Record: 35-5.
Seed: No. 1.

Playoff road: Beat Oberlin 92-41, Gueydan 91-36, East Iberville 73-49, Plain Dealing 48-45

Top scorers: Langston Galloway(right), 6-4, Sr, 26.0 ppg; Patrick Robinson, 6-6, Sr, 16.0 ppg; McCall Tomeny(left), 6-4, Sr, 14.0 ppg.

Top 28 history: Eighth appearance with four titles (including three straight from 2006-08) and two runner-up finishes.

Notes: This is CLA's fifth straight appearance. Galloway is a St. Joseph's of Philadelphia signee, while Robinson signed with Northwestern State. Maggio was at Plainview last season. Todd Foster left CLA to begin his career as a college coach at Baton Rouge C.C.

Class 2A Top 28 State Championships

Jonesboro-Hodge Tigers

Coach: Allen Tew.
Record: 26-9.
Seed: No. 15.

Playoff road: Beat Capitol 73-63, ST Aquinas 65-62 (OT), Donaldsonville 86-58, Red River 56-47

Top scorers: Thomas Williams(right), 6-7, Sr, 23.1 ppg; Kevin Cottonham, 5-8, Soph, 11.7 ppg; LaQuinten Calahan, 6-1, Sr, 7.5 ppg.

Top 28 history: Eighth appearance with three titles and 1 runner-up finish.

Notes: Lost in the state semifinals in 2002, 2005, 2007. Took third place in District 3-2A behind Many and Red River, who tied for first. Defeated Red River once in three games this season, giving the Bulldogs their only home loss. Williams has received scholarship offers from 10 teams, including UL Monroe, Grambling, Southeastern and UT-San Antonio.

Riverside Rebels

Coach: Timmy Byrd.

Record: 37-6.

Seed: No. 1.

Playoff road: Beat Sterlington 102-52, Port Barre 103-68, Springfield 72-52, Evangel 75-49

Top scorers: Ricardo Gathers(left), 6-7, Soph, 20.0 ppg; Cedric Jenkins(right), 6-2, Sr, 19.0 ppg; Louis Dabney, 6-3, Soph, 13.0 ppg; Ed Gallina, 6-5, Sr, 11.0 ppg; Franklin Francois, 5-7, Sr, 8.0 ppg.

Top 28 history: First appearance.

Notes: This is the school's first boys basketball playoff appearance since 2005. The Rebels do so as the No. 1-ranked team in Class 2A. Of course, the cast is different. Byrd and all of his starters were Reserve Christian Eagles last year. All moved over to Riverside when Reserve Christian closed its doors in May.


Class 4A Top 28 State Championships
 

Bossier Bearkats


Coach: Jeremiah Williams.
Record: 38-1.
Seed: No. 2.

Playoff road: Beat Franklinton 108-70, Neville 83-74, Ellender 76-62, Washington-Marion 80-60

Top players: Jalan West(right), 5-10, Jr, 15.5 ppg; Joseph James, 5-8, Jr, 13.3 ppg; Devonte Francis(left), 5-11, Soph, 13.6 ppg; Lyndale James, 6-5, Jr, 7.9 ppg.

Top 28 history: Sixth appearance with a pair of runner-up finishes.

Notes: This is Bossier's second straight season in the Top 28. The Bearkats are led by their speedy, pressure-packed backcourt with West leading the way 4.5 assists and 1.4 steals a game.
 
picture courtesy of Brad Kemp the Daily Advertiser
 
Peabody War Horses

Coach: Charles Smith
Record: 40-0
Seed: No. 1.

Playoff road: Beat Woodlawn 80-26, McDonogh-35 57-28, Istrouma 53-40, Glen Oaks 65-52

Top players: Markel Brown(right), 6-5, Sr, 32.5 ppg; Troy Jones, 6-7, Soph, 15.5 ppg; Joshua Ivory, 6-2, Soph, 10.5 ppg; Kalvin Balque, 6-5, Sr, 12.5 ppg.

Top 28 history: 19th trip with 5 championships and 4 runner-up finishes.

Notes: Peabody is making its first trip to the Top 28 since 2007. The last time Peabody was here stars such as Raphelle Turner and Marcus Simmons led the Warhorses to the 4A state championship.

Class 5A Top 28 State Championships

Scotlandville Hornets

Coach: Carlos Sample
Record: 33-5.
Seed: No. 2.

Playoff road: Beat Denham Springs 65-57, Natchitoches Central 75-63, Covington 89-83, Jesuit 60-58

Top scorers: J-Jay Thomas(right), 6-4, Sr, 24.2 ppg; Levi Wright, 6-1, Jr, 16.5 ppg; Deshawn Washington, 5-9, Soph, 11.3 ppg.

Top 28 history: First trip.

Notes: The Hornets won their first district title since 1975 this year. In the modern LHSAA format, the last time the team advanced to the quarterfinals was in 1977. Scotlandville did win a state title in 1959 in the old LIALO. Thomas averages 11 rebounds and is a Stephen F. Austin signee.

Brother Martin Crusaders

Coach: Scott Thompson

Record: 29-10.

Seed: No. 9.

Playoff road: Beat Lafayette High 56-49, Ponchatoula 66-63, St. Augustine 62-58, Hammond 68-66

Top scorers: Patrick Swilling(right), 6-4, Sr, 18.3 ppg; Schane Rillieux, 5-11, Jr, 14.1 ppg; Ryan Berger, 6-4, Sr, 8.7 ppg; Myron Chapman, 6-2, Soph, 7.5 ppg

Glen Oaks Rides Early Momentum to Win Over Istrouma

Last night was a big time game with Istrouma and Glen Oaks for the right to share the district title with one game remaining for each team. Istrouma now has Woodlawn on friday night at home and Glen Oaks finishes with St. Michael's on thursday. An IHS loss and a GOHS win would give G.O. the title. A G.O. loss and a IHS win would give IHS the title. However, neither should lose. With that said, Glen Oaks who was easily beaten by Istrouma the first time by 23 without Oklahoma State signee Brian Williams, won last night's game by 12 in front of his future head coach Travis Ford and Assistant Butch Pierre. Also in the building last night was Mark Bass and assistant coach from St. Joe's who was looking at junior Tre Drye of Glen Oaks and senior Ronald McGhee of Istrouma. St. Joe's has already signed Baton Rouge product Langston Galloway of Christian Life. An addition of McGhee would be a great combination in the Atlantic 10 conference in years to come. Nonethless, there was a game last night. Here is the article from the Baton Rouge Advocate and great sportswriter Robin Fambrough.

Glen Oaks Tre Drye had 13 boards in the win

By ROBIN FAMBROUGH

Advocate sportswriter
Published: Feb 16, 2010

The law of motion states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Sixth-ranked Glen Oaks provided a boys basketball version of this basic science principle Monday night.


The Panthers took control early on the way to a 71-59 victory over fourth-ranked Istrouma in a crucial District 7-4A game played in front of a capacity crowd at Glen Oaks.

Three weeks after Istrouma bounced the Panthers 65-41, it was Glen Oaks’ turn. GOHS (28-5, 12-1 in 7-4A) led by as much as 18 points in what was at times a dominating effort.

“Just a great team effort,” Glen Oaks coach Harvey Adger said. “These guys knew they had something to play for, and they believed that as a team everybody accomplishes more.”

Oklahoma State signee Brian Williams and Brandon Johnson each had 18 points to pace the balanced Panthers. Andre Scott added 16 and Tiron Brown had nine. Tre Drye pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.

Roy Knox Jr. finished with a game-high 22 points, including six 3-pointers for Istrouma (27-5, 12-1). Joel Jackson added 11 in a game that saw Istrouma standout Ronald McGhee finish with seven points before fouling out.

“We didn’t have one of our better shooting nights,” Istrouma coach Marvin Dotson said. “The big thing was, we didn’t match their intensity on defense. We got close in the third quarter, but we dug such a big hole in the first half that we were never able to get out of it.”

The pace of the first half favored Glen Oaks even though the Indians’ Jackson actually scored the first basket. The fact that McGhee, who averages 20 points per game, did not score until the fourth quarter also favored the Panthers.

A 3-pointer and then a layup off an inbounds pass by Johnson gave Glen Oaks a 7-4 lead by the 4:18 mark of the first quarter.

“This is something we’ve been waiting for since the first time we played Istrouma,” Johnson said. “We knew we could play better than we did in that game. And we focused on every possession and followed the game plan.”

Glen Oaks was more deliberate, making 6-for-12 from the field to open the game. Williams, playing in just his third game since missing five weeks with a leg injury, gave GOHS a late boost. Williams’ jumper from the baseline a 3-pointer from the top of the key sent the Panthers into the second quarter with a 14-10 lead.

Istrouma made 4 of its 16 first-quarter shots from the field. Things didn’t get any better for the Indians, who were just 1-for-12 from the field in the second period.

Glen Oaks made its share of mistakes, including two late turnovers. But GOHS still led 23-14 at halftime.

The long range marksmanship of Knox got Istrouma back in the game. Knox connected on three long range jumpers in the third period, the third of which, got the Indians within six at 33-27 at the 3:34 mark.

Jackson then provided a three-point play by making a free throw and following his own miss with a layup make it a 33-30 game with 2:40 remaining.

That’s when Glen Oaks found another gear. The Panthers scored eight points in just over a minute. Scott had two baskets, Williams scored on a drive to the basket and Drye added a thunderous dunk. And GOHS led 41-31 going into the fourth quarter.

Williams provided another exclamation point a minute into the fourth quarter, rebounding a missed free throw and slamming it home to the delight of the crowd that included OSU head coach Travis Ford and former LSU and current OSU assistant Butch Pierre.

“I got in foul trouble early and I was a little rusty,” Williams said. “But I was fired up and wanted to do whatever I could for my team.”

Glen Oaks’ deliberate style soon forced Istrouma to foul. That put the Panthers in the double bonus with 5:04 to go in the game. By that time, GOHS led by 16. Istrouma never got any closer than the final margin.

“They (Glen Oaks) did a good job of running two people at McGhee every time he got the ball,” Dotson said. “Knox had a great and made some tough shots, but it wasn’t enough.”

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