MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / March 13, 1999

LAFAYETTE – For the first 2:43 of their Class B semifinal game in the Cajundome Wednesday afternoon, Reserve Christian and Gibsland-Coleman appeared to have experienced a role reversal.

The Eagles, playing in their first Top 28 game, looked poised in grabbing a 7-0 lead, while Gibsland-Coleman, playing in its second consecutive semifinals, looked like the first-time team.

But once they got the butterflies out of their system, the Bulldogs showed why they were the top ranked team in the state this year, scoring 10 of the next 12 points on their way to an 84-55 victory.

Gibsland-Coleman (42-3), which lost a buzzer-beater to Mt. Hermon in lastyear’s semifinals, advanced to the state finals for the first time since 1989. The Bulldogs will play Epps, the 1997 state runners-up, today at2:30 p.m.Reserve Christian finished 30-16 in its first season in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association. The Eagles were the first River Parishesteam to make the Top 28 tournament since St. James did it in 1986 andthe first St. John Parish school since Second Ward in 1973. No RiverParishes team has made it to a state finals.

After the first three minutes of the game Wednesday, Gibsland-Coleman put on an impressive show. The Bulldogs finished the game with a .493shooting percentage from the field and grabbed 51 rebounds. The Bulldogsdid commit 29 fouls and turned the ball over 27 times.

Senior forward Bernard King, a Texas A & M signee, led the Bulldogs on both ends of the court. King had 29 points, 17 rebounds, 11 assists, fiveblocked shots and seven steals before fouling out with 2:39 left in the game. Starwisky Hampton added 13 points while Darmarques Quarlesfinished with 12.

“I had a lot of experience and I could tell the other players to be ready for it,” King, who played in last year’s semifinals, said. “I told them to justgo out and play.”Reserve Christian was able to handle the Bulldogs’ full-court press but struggled with it in the front court and in the paint, shooting 29 percent from the field and committing 30 turnovers.

Aaron Vogel led the Eagles with 14 points and added four steals. EricMcClain also had four steals to go with his 11 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 5:39 left. Herman Mitchell tossed in 11 points aswell.

“I thought we were playing out of control,” Reserve Christian coach Timmy Byrd said. “I though we were a little nervous and that was to beexpected. I knew we couldn’t get too excited ( when the score was 7-0). Iknew they were an explosive team. They did a good job of finishing and wedidn’t finish. We didn’t respond to the physical level of play and they out-played us.”Reserve Christian took advantage of cold shooting and turnovers by the Bulldogs in the early minutes of the game. Matt McGee found Vogel insidefor the first points of the game with 6:54 left in the first quarter. McClainthen stole the inbounds pass and drove in for a layup.

McClain grabbed another steal at midcourt on the following possession.

After Jason Jackson knocked a pass out of bounds, McClain fed Vogel driving down the lane to make it 6-0 with 6:22 left in the opening period.

Two possessions later, Jared Simoneaux was fouled, and after a timeout by the Bulldogs, hit the first of two free throws to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead with 5:47 left.

King jump-started the Bulldogs, giving them their first points with a 3- pointer from the right wing with 5:17 left. Hampton then grabbed a steal,fed King inside and got the ball back for a layup.

Mitchell increased the lead back to four on a drive from the left baseline, but King answered with a put back to give the Bulldogs their first lead at 10-9 with 3:38 remaining.

Reserve Christian tied the score at 11 with 1:27 left as Simoneaux scored inside off the inbounds from McClain. With the clock running down in thequarter, King drove down the lane and fed Hampton underneath, giving the Bulldogs a 13-11 lead heading into the second period.

Gibsland-Coleman pulled away with an 8-0 run to open the second quarter.

Hampton grabbed a steal in the backcourt and drove in for a dunk, increasing the Bulldogs’ lead to 20-11 with 6:28 remaining.

Simoneaux got the Eagles back on the scoreboard with two free throws at the 5:31 mark. Gibsland-Coleman responded with a 6-0 run, capped by adrive by Jackson.

Vogel and Edmond Weathersby each made two free throws but the Bulldogs came back with deep passes to Jackson and Marcus Cato to go up 34-18.

King capped the scoring in the first half, taking a feed from Cato off a steal in for a one-handed dunk.

King ended the first half with 15 points, eight rebounds, four blocks, seven assists and five steals. The Bulldogs held Reserve Christian towithout a field goal in the second quarter with all the Eagles points coming on free throws. The Bulldogs’ press forced the Eagles to turn theball over 19 times in the first 16 minutes.

“We went to the four corners press after the first quarter,” Gibsland- Coleman coach Oscar Williams said. “The press generates our offense. Ithought the press was the key after getting off to the slow start.”Gibsland-Coleman continued to pull away in the third quarter. A three-point play on a put back by Hampton gave the Bulldogs a 53-24 lead with 3:06 remaining.

McGee scored inside and Vogel put back a shot to cut the deficit to 26, but Quarles put up a 3-pointer from the left corner that bounced high off the rim and went through as the buzzer sounded to give the Bulldogs a 60-31 lead.

The Bulldogs built a 30-point lead as King put back a missed free throw by Cato. Vogel scored inside and McClain hit two foul shots to pull the Eaglesto within 25 with 6:21 left.

King drove down the lane to make it a 28-point game before Mitchell drove the lane and Vogel buried a 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 69- 46 with 5:39 left. A jumper by Mitchell made it a 22-point game beforethe Bulldogs closed the game with a 7-0 run.

“We were inexperienced and it showed,” Byrd said. “But we have a youngteam and everybody returns.

“Hopefully we can use this as a sounding board to get back here again.”

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