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

Class 5A Playoff Preview and Predictions

J-Jay Thomas(left) of Scotlandville and Dominick Scelfo(right) of Jesuit will lead their teams tonight

Antonio Landers(Left) of Ouachita and Shavon Coleman(Right) of Thibodaux will lead their teams tonight

Traditional power is back on top of 5A once again as St. Augustine Purple Knights led by senior Elridge Moore and sophomore standouts Javan Felix and Sydie London come in as the top seed followed at 2 by Scotlandville and J-Jay Thomas who is a Stephen F. Austin signee. Coming in as the 3 seed is Ouachita, the defending 5A champ led by coach Casey Jones and Antonio Landers. Sulphur comes in as the 4 seed led by Chip Armelin and Matt LeBato while Hammond rounds out the top 5 with first year coach Brent Grigas. With much of the hype around Scotlandville's amazing season in which they have won the East Baton Rouge Parish tournament, beaten Istrouma twice, Glen Oaks twice, Christian Life, Ouachita, Ellender and Northside, a sleeper team to watch are the Jesuit Blue Jays and 21 seed Southwood. Jesuit comes in as the 6 seed and hosts East St. John, while Southwood travels to 12 seed Central-BR. Southwood will look to the senior scoring of guards Dean Johns and Mike Davis who both can flat out play. Central will counter with PG Josh Veals, Wes Brisoe and Brock Poydras. This 12/21 game should be a great game and I am planning on covering this game tonight I don't think Southwood will win on the road, but I will not be shocked if they do. As for the top seed St. Aug, they have a tough road to the dome as does Scotlandville. St. Aug's path could include Thibodaux on the road led by top 100 player Shavon Coleman, and a possible rematch with district rival Brother Martin or a rematch from last years quarterfinal with West Monroe in which they lost. So, those are a few things to look for as the playoffs begin. Some other players to note are Jesuit's Dominick Scelfo(Cornell) and junior Brady Hadden, Brother Martin's Pat Swilling Jr., West Monroe's Cory Lacy, Hammond's Mark Bridgewater and Dominic McCoy, St. Thomas More's Xavier Blackburn and Will Norman, Westgate's Jacoby Colbert, and Airline's sophomore sensation Josh Hagins.

First Round Playoff Predictions

Top Bracket

1. St. Augustine  over 32. Acadiana
17. Thibodaux over 16. Slidell
9. Brother Martin  over 24. Lafayette
8. West Monroe over25. Ponchatoula
5. Hammond over 28. West Jefferson
21. Southwood over 12. Central-BR
20. Pineville over 13. LaGrange
29. South Lafourche over 4. Sulphur

Bottom Bracket

3. Ouachita  over 30. C.E. Byrd
14. St. Thomas More  over 19. Destrehan
11. Hahnville  over 22. Catholic-BR
6. Jesuit  over 27. East St. John
7. Westgate  over 26. Central Lafourche
10. John Ehret  over 23. Covington
15. Airline over 18. Natchitoches Central
2. Scotlandville over 31. Denham Springs

30 Louisiana Players Nominated for 2010 McDonald's All-American Game

This year's class of 2010 has been well represented on the list of nominated players for the prestigious McDonald's All-American game which includes close to 1500 nominated senior nationally of about 30,000 that play for their high school teams. Being one of 30,000 to be mentioned is an honor in itself but to actually move on and get to play in the game is even greater. Here is a list of players from Louisiana that have been selected to play in the game.

1978 Micah Blunt East Jefferson (Metairie) Tulane
1982 Benoit Benjamin Carroll (Monroe) Creighton
1983 Tom Curry Redemptorist (Baton Rouge) Marshall
1986 Dwayne Bryant De La Salle (New Orleans) Georgetown
1986 Fess Irvin East Ascension (Gonzales) LSU; James Madison
1990 Melvin Simon Shaw (Marrero) New Orleans
1992 Duane Spencer Cohen (New Orleans) Georgetown; LSU
1993 Jerald Honeycutt Grambling Tulane
1993 Randy Livingston Newman (New Orleans) LSU
1994 Neil Reed East Jefferson (Metairie) Indiana; Southern Mississippi
1996 Lester Earl Glen Oaks (Baton Rouge) LSU; Kansas
1997 Marcus Fizer Arcadia Iowa St.
1998 Stromile Swift Fair Park (Shreveport) LSU
2000 Chris Duhon Salmen (Slidell) Duke
2003 Brandon Bass Capitol (Baton Rouge) LSU
2004 Glen Davis University (Baton Rouge) LSU
2005 Tasmin Mitchell Denham Springs LSU
2006 Demond Carter Reserve Christian Baylor
2006 D.J. Augustin Brother Martin(New Orleans)/Hightower*(Sugarland,TX) Texas
2008 Greg Monroe Helen Cox (Harvey) Georgetown

*= Moved to Hightower his senior year after Hurricane Katrina

Below is a list of all 30 players nominated from our state along with their picture. Of the 30 nominated ten* kids have signed their national letters of intent to play college. Leading the list of players are four nationally ranked players by Rivals including two in the top 100. Matt Derenbecker(71), Shavon Coleman(97), Langston Galloway(120) and Brian Williams(127) have all been nominated to play in the game.

*=Technically only nine signed but Dominick Scelfo of Jesuit will be at Cornell. With Cornell being an Ivy League school, they don't offer athletic scholarships, only academic.

LOUISIANA

In Alphabetical Order

Chip Armelin Sulphur High School Sulphur LA

Markel Brown Peabody Magnet High School Alexandria LA

Signed with Oklahoma State

LaDon Carter Richwood High School Monroe LA

Jacolby Colbert Westgate High School New Iberia LA

Shavon Coleman Thibodaux High School Thibodaux LA

Signed with UL-Monroe

Matt Derenbecker Metairie Park Country Day School Metairie LA

Signed with Louisiana State University

Langston Galloway Christian Life Academy Baton Rouge LA

Signed with St. Joseph's University(PA)

Michael Harrell Southern University Laboratory High School Baton Rouge LA

Signed with Southeastern Louisiana University

Cedric Jenkins Riverside Academy Reserve LA

C.J. Johnson Rapides High School Lecompte LA

YonDarius Johnson Plain Dealing High School Plain LA

Kaleb Knight Christian Life Academy Baton Rouge LA

Signed with Grambling State University

Antonio Landers Ouachita Parish High School Monroe LA

Keelon Lee Abbeville High School Abbeville LA

Trevon Lewis Ellender Memorial High School Houma LA

Kyle McClue Riverside Academy Reserve LA

Ronald Mcghee Istrouma High School Baton Rouge LA

Elridge Moore St. Augustine High School New Orleans LA

Daniel Piper Pineville High School Pineville LA

No picture

Patrick Robinson, Jr. Christian Life Academy Baton Rouge LA

Signed with Northwestern State University(LA)

Dominick Scelfo Jesuit High School New Orleans LA

Committed to Cornell University

Gary Stewart Vidalia High School Vidalia LA

Patrick Swilling, Jr. Brother Martin High School New Orleans LA

Dantrell Thomas Many High School Many LA

J.J. Thomas Scotlandville Magnet High School Baton Rouge, LA

Signed with Stephen F. Austin(TX)

McCall Tomeny Christian Life Academy Baton Rouge LA

Tyler Washington Port Allen High School Port Allen LA

Hakeem Welch Alexandria Senior High School Alexandria LA

Brian Williams Glen Oaks High School Baton Rouge LA
Signed with Oklahoma State

Thomas "TJ" Williams Jonesboro Hodge High School Jonesboro LA