Tigers rally past ESJ

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, February 23, 2010

By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE – Leading Hahnville by six with 57 seconds left, it looked like East St. John would secure a win and with it a shared district championship.

But call Hahnville a little selfish — the Tigers weren’t very willing to share, after all.

The Tigers scored nine unanswered points in the final minute, including two 3-pointers, and finished off a improbable comeback effort to win the District 6-5A championship outright with a 59-56 victory at East St. John.

“We wouldn’t quit,” said Hahnville’s Will Becnel. “We knew as long as we kept it together, as long as we play hard and hustle, the game would come back to us.”

Added teammate Derek Howard: “The leaders on this team just came to the huddle and said to keep playing till that bell rings, and we went out and did that.”

Hahnville draws the No. 11 seed in the Class 5A state tournament and will host Catholic-Baton Rouge. East St. John is No. 27 and will travel to Jesuit.

After Darion Monroe hit one-of-two free throws to put East St. John (15-15, 7-3) ahead 56-50, Byron Gauthier hit a 3-pointer with 46.3 seconds left to draw Hahnville within three.

After the Tigers (23-7, 9-1) immediately fouled, Monroe missed a pair of free throws. With 27.3 seconds left, Will Becnel made a 3 of his own to tie the game.

The Wildcats were called for a travel on their next possession, and Hahnville’s Warren LeBeouf drew a foul on a drive to the basket. He made one of his two free throws with 11.4 seconds left in the game. Then leading by one, HHS forced the biggest turnover of the game after trapping Kaylon Placide against the sideline and forcing an out of bounds call.

Hahnville inbounded the ball to a streaking Derek Howard, who ESJ fouled underneath his basket. The hard foul was called intentional.

“The disappointing thing was that we made some really immature turnovers at the end,” said East St. John coach Yussef Jasmine.

Howard made his first free throw. He missed the second, but the Tigers brought in the offensive rebound and Howard was fouled again with 0.4 left on the clock.

“I’m extremely proud of these guys,” said Hahnville coach Brian Lumar. “I don’t know if any team in the state works harder as a group than this team does.”

LeBeouf scored 16 points to lead all scorers. Becnel scored 12.

Placide led the Wildcats with 12 points. Patrick Gales scored 11, and D’haquille Williams scored 10.

Early on, it looked like Hahnville might run away with things.

The Wildcats did not make a field goal — a Placide jumper – until there was 3:01 left in the first quarter. Hahnville led 12-3 at that point and 16-8 after a quarter thanks to a swarming defense that gave ESJ few easy looks.

But while Hahnville’s lead climbed as high as 11, a ferocious ESJ rally to end the first half completely shifted momentum. ESJ scored on four straight possessions, including two baskets by Kalen Henderson, to make it 24-22. Andre Watkins answered for Hahnville, but then Placide canned a deep 3 with 1:03 left in the first half. With three seconds left, Marcus Robinson hit a 3 of his own to whip the home crowd into a frenzy.

“We slowly but surely showed some progress on offense. We were patient,” said Jasmine. “We did a good job overcoming a really slow start.”

ESJ rode that wave into the second half, starting it on a 14-6 run that began with another Robinson 3.

Hahnville rallied to tie things up at 42 with a Becnel 3 with 7:05 left to play. But a LeBaron Sylvester layup kickstarted a quick 8-2 run, and East St. John forced a number of turnovers to help maintain control — until the game’s final minute.

Jasmine hopes the loss spurs his team forward as it enters the playoffs.

“The last time I saw my guys cry after a game like that, it was last year when we lost in the first round,” he said. “We’ve got it out of the way this year. Now hopefully we can make a run.”

A run is also on the minds of Hahnville players.

“It’s my first district title,” said LeBeouf. “It’s a great feeling. Now it’s onto the next step, and that’s the state title.”