LAKE CHARLES — East Feliciana came into the Division IV nonselect semifinal game with the No. 1 seed and one of the state’s top two-sport athletes in Trey’Dez Green.
That did not matter to fourth-seeded North Central.
Devion Lavergne drove that point home after the Hurricanes notched a 73-66 win at the LHSAA Boys State Basketball tournament Tuesday.
“We may not be No. 1 on paper,” Lavergne said. “Rankings don’t count … what happens on the court does.”
After being outscored 15-8 in the first quarter and trailing 33-28 at halftime. North Central, the Class 1A champion a year ago, took control in the second half of the game played at Burton Coliseum.
Mckennis Savoy scored 25 points and Lavergne had 22 points and 12 rebounds to put NCHS (23-12) in the title game again Friday at 4 p.m. The Hurricanes will play the White Castle-Franklin winner, seeking their fourth LHSAA title.
The 6-foot-8 Green led East Feliciana (24-8) with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists in the school’s first LHSAA tourney berth.
“No matter how many times we came at them, they never folded,” EFHS coach Raeshawn Williams said. “Like I said before the game, we could not have turnovers and we had 20.
“We missed free throws and we missed layups too. It’s hard to win, especially against a team like that, if you don’t do those things.”
Free throw shooting was crucial for another reason. The Tigers shot just 10 free throws and made five. North Central got EFHS into foul trouble early, forcing the Tigers into a zone defense.
The Hurricanes also got into the double bonus early in the fourth quarter. NCHS made 27 of its 35 free throws.
North Central did not take the lead until the third quarter when Isaac Doucet made a layup with 4:59 remaining to make it 39-37. Tyler Martin gave EFHS a 45-43 lead with a layup in the final minute of the quarter. But a 3-pointer by Savoy sent North Central into the fourth quarter with a 46-45 edge.
The Hurricanes made 13 fourth-quarter free throws and led by as much as nine points. White hit two 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds but the Tigers got no closer than five.
“AAU starts next week,” Green said. “I want to come back next with my team and win.”
Leave a Reply