By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

St. James: State Champions.

“Those are the sweetest words I’ve ever heard,” said Wildcats’ coach Justin Adams.

His team pulled off the feat in the Class 3A state championship game Saturday night, defeating Avoyelles, 61-49, at Southeastern’s University Center in Hammond.

St. James’ Brandi Jeffery was named the game’s Outstanding Player on a night that she scored 16 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and logged three steals.

“It’s a great feeling. We (seniors) have been trying since the seventh grade to win a state championship,” said Jeffery. “Now our names are going to be up there at school forever.”

Fellow seniors Anika Duronslet and Markeisha Keller each scored 10 points. Dasha Adams had seven steals.

“Now,  we can tell our kids, grandkids, and great grandkids what we did,” said Duronslet with a smile. ‘Look at what Grandma did.’”

St. James battled foul trouble all night long as Jeffery, Duronslet and Keller each left for extended stretches – Keller would foul out in the fourth quarter, and Jeffery and Duronslet each finished with four fouls.

But at the moment most would have least expected the Wildcats to make their biggest push, it indeed came.

Jeffery picked up her fourth personal with 1:50 left in the third quarter and St. James (27-8) leading 37-33. It left the Wildcats without she and Keller, who also was sitting with four fouls.

But instead of the Mustangs taking advantage, St. James forged ahead. Adams made a jumper to make it 39-33. Then the Wildcats forced back-to-back turnovers and each time scored on identical inbounds plays. Duronslet caught the ball in the lane and finished each time to push the lead to 10 to end the period.

“We didn’t rotate help side very well in that stretch,” said Avoyelles coach Amanda Clemons. “We knew what we had to fix and they tried their ‘dangest’ to do it.”

Said Adams: “Their kids were a little winded. We noticed on one inbounds play that they didn’t cover it well, and so we went back to it there. When you get fatigued, the first thing to go is that mental sharpness.

“All year, we’ve worn people down in the third and they’ve made mistakes in the fourth.”

St. James was able to hold the lead at 10 for most of the fourth quarter. A jumper by Avoyelles’ Keonta Nelson was answered by another by Duronslet. Duronslet would respond again with a bucket after Markesha Johnson’s layup, and another Johnson layup was followed by a Jeffery jumper.

Kourtney McGhee’s layup with 2:13 remaining pulled the Mustangs (29-3) within seven, 53-46. But St. James closed the door from there, allowing no more Avoyelles’ points until the final 44 seconds.

The game was physical and hard fought from the opening tip. Avoyelles led by as many as five in the first quarter, 17-12, on a Johnson basket. St. James would eventually tie on a 3 by Keller to send it into the second quarter knotted at 17.

Neither squad would lead by more than three points in the second quarter, and St. James led 28-25 at halftime.

Both teams fought through adversity, with St. James dealing with its foul trouble and Avoyelles coping with the loss of frontcourt standout India Marbs, who left the game with a knee injury 3:39 left in the first quarter.

St. James seemed to take advantage, collecting 21 offensive rebounds.

“It broke my heart. I’ve torn my ACL before,” said Adams, a former player. “It was definitely a turning point, I know that.”

The Wildcats’ press forced 30 Avoyelles turnovers while committing just 16 of their own.

For Avoyelles, McGhee led the way with 16 points. Johnson had 15.

“I couldn’t be prouder of my team,” said a tearful Clemons. “It just breaks my heart to think that these players are not going to see what they accomplished this season.”

The Wildcats shot just 2-for-19 from 3-point range, leading to a change in approach in the second half as St. James relentlessly attacked the rim.

“We weren’t really worried about them beating us from the outside,” said Clemons, whose team also struggled from the outside, shooting just 1-for-6. “But it’s a credit to them, they busted their tails and got into the lane.”

Adams said it was probably his team’s worst perimeter shooting performance of the season.

“Sometimes we have a tendency to settle for jumpers,” said Adams. “We got into early foul trouble. But in the second half, we were finally able to press like we’d like to and offensively, we attacked the rim.”

St. James entered the tournament as the top seed, and Avoyelles the second.

Having just completed his first season with the team, Adams spoke of how proud he was to bring a championship back to the St. James community.

“I’m proud to wear black and gold,” he said.