Class 4A Quarterfinal Predictions and Preview

The state's two top point guards, Jalan West(left) of Bossier and Nick Syrie(right) of Northside

will lead their teams in the quarterfinals tonight

What more can you ask for than the 4A playoffs that have the top 8 seeds in the quarterfinals tonight. This means there will be four games that will include eight very good and talented teams. Let's start on the bottom sid of the bracket which features the two games that are less intriguing as the top bracket but still very good nonetheless. In the 3/6 game you have Northside traveling to always tough Washington Marion who is back in the playoffs after a year absence due to LHSAA penalty of an ineligible player in 2009. Washington Marion will look to 5'9" Keaven Fontenot to to lead the way as NHS will rely on the point guard play of junior Nick Syrie. Syrie, one of the top juniors in Louisiana seems to have found his shot in the playoffs and is providing Coach Devan Clark with an added outside shooting threat. Others to watch for Northside are 6'6" junior Chris Robertson and 5'10" guard Tony Montgomery. In the other game on the bottom side, you have 2 seed Bossier hosting 7 seed Ellender. Ellender, who has yet to see a true tough opponent this playoffs, will run into a buzzsaw this round as Bossier has it's entire team back from last years state runner-up team except one kid. Lead by Jalan West, Devonta Francis and JJ James, the Bearkats will look to push the tempo and win this game going away. Ellender will rely on the steady play of 6'5" Trevon Lewis who scored 37 on tuesday and Karderro Dixon who led Ellender with 20 in the first round.

Brian Williams(left) throwing down a dunk in Wednesday's win over Minden

will lead Glen Oaks, while Ronald McGhee(right) of Istrouma

will take on Markel Brown(bottom) of Peabody in quarterfinal action tonight

Now on to the top side of the bracket as two Baton Rouge teams, Glen Oaks and Istrouma look to take on Wossman and Peabody. Glen Oaks comes in as the 4 seed after a hard earned win at home on Wednesday and will travel to Monroe to take on Wossman, the 5 seed. Glen Oaks is going to rely on the senior leadership once again of Oklahoma State signee Brian Williams as they take on a tough Wossman team led by Johnathon Ross. Istrouma, the 8 seed will travel to Alexandria and play top seed Peabody and another Oklahoma State signee Markel Brown. Istrouma defeated defending champ Salmen tuesday who has beaten Peabody the previous two seasons in this very round. Peabody advanced by an easy win over McDonogh #35. Both games feature several Division 1 prospects. For Glen Oaks, you have Williams who has signed and potentially 3 more D1 prospects as juniors Erron Chesterfield(6'6") and Tre Drye(6'6") both are promising players that will get a lot of D1 attention this summer. Drye is one of the top juniors in Louisiana while Chesterfield is just now making his name. The third player with possible D1 talent down the line will be 5'5" freshman PG Jalen Variste. Variste is the x-factor of this Glen Oaks team that can come in and hit 3's in bunches. D1 prospects in the Istrouma/Peabody game besides Brown for Peabody are 6'5" Ronald McGhee whose list of schools interested are North Texas, UCLA, Alabama, St. Joe's, Arkansas, Tulane and others. Also for Istrouma is 6'2" PG Darius Johnson who is a sophomore. Peabody has 6'6" Troy Jones that is a sophomore as well.

Class 4A Quarterfinal Predictions

1 seed Peabody over Istrouma

4 seed Glen Oaks over 5 seed Wossman

6 seed Northside over 3 seed Washington Marion

2 seed Bossier over 7 seed Ellender

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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