LAKE CHARLES — Chance Martin wreaked havoc at both ends of the court while leading Family Christian Academy to a 46-38 win over Rapides in a Division V select semifinal played Monday in the LHSAA Boys State basketball tournament at Burton Coliseum.
The win sends the reigning champion Flames (25-14) into the title for a third straight year. FCA faces top-seeded Avoyelles Charter (35-1), which advanced with a 54-36 win over J.S. Clark. That game is set for noon Friday.
Martin scored 17 points and added seve rebounds, seven assists and three steals as the Flames kept the game at a slow pace, reigning in the Mustangs’ fast-paced attack.
Rapides shot just 32% from the floor, including 4 of 20 on 3-point attempts. Family Christian routinely worked the ball into the lane with its efficient halfcourt offense. The Flames had 13 assists on 19 made field goals and shot 50% from the floor.
Family Christian’s defense became increasingly stingy as the game progressed. Rapides scored 13 points in the first quarter, 11 in the second, nine in the third and just five in the fourth.
Flames coach Isaac Amedee said his team improved on both ends of the court as the game progressed.
“When you come in with inexperience playing in a big venue, the kids feel it,” he said. “In the first half, we were almost too unselfish and a bit timid. We settled in during the second half. We were standing around and watching in the first half and were a lot more attentive to detail and a lot more aggressive in the second half.”
Martin scored 10 points in the first half, which ended tied in 24-24. The Flames took the lead for good at 32-31 on the first of two third quarter 3-pointers by Kayden Colbert. Family Christian stretched the lead to four points by the end of the quarter.
Rapides pulled within two points in the last three minutes on a basket by Terrance McNeal that made it 40-38. But the Flames scored the final six points on two baskets by Jordan Jones and a pair of free throws by Martin.
Jones scored six of his 11 points in the fourth quarter. Amedee said tempo was the key to the game.
“Rapides is a fast-paced team, we wanted to make sure we got them out of their comfort zone and a bit off-kilter,” he said. “(Early in the fourth quarter) They got into a rhythm, started getting downhill. In the last few minutes, we got them out of rhythm. If you control the tempo, you control the game.”
Ali Wahid led Rapides with 10 points. Zakeivveon Gadison added eight points and seven rebounds.
“We didn’t shoot it as well as we normally do, even when we had good looks,” Rapides coach Travis Broussard said. “They did some things defensively that bothered us. We could not get into a flow. Hats off to them, they made some good adjustments.”
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