BOBBY ARDOIN Editor/Consulting Writer
Lead photo credit: Chris Quebeaux, Sports Editor
He could have demonstrated feelings of disappointment or despair, but J.S. Clark Leadership Academy boys’ basketball coach Ross Rix brushed that aside and took his postgame conversation in a different direction Friday afternoon.
Just moments after his team lost 40-38 to Avoyelles Public Charter in a Division V select state championship game, Rix chose to assess the future of his basketball team that nearly achieved its rare place in St. Landry Basketball history
“We are going to take this loss and build on it. I think that we are a program that is on the rise. (On Friday) we didn’t get it done, but I have to say that our players did a phenomenal job of putting us in the position that we were in,” Ross added during his post-game interview at Burton Coliseum in Lake Charles.
J.S. Clark, which had an opportunity to tie the game with a last second field goal attempt that rimmed out as the buzzer sounded, was playing for a boys’ state title for the first time in school history.
Additionally the Bulldogs (24-9), had a chance Friday to become one of two parish teams credited with winning both a boys and girls basketball championship in the same season.
Just seven days before, Ross was clutching a state champion trophy after the Clark girls’ basketball team defeated Oak Hill in a Division V title contest.
Ross however took time on Friday to salute the large group of Opelousas-area spectators who made a morning trip in order to be seated for a noon tipoff against APCS, who won a second straight Division V select championship.
APCS boys basketball coach Antonio Benjamin complimented Clark and especially Rix, who had little time to prepare his team for championship week after the JSCLA girls’ team won a championship.
“I thought (Rix) did a great job (on Friday), considering he had the toughest job of all by taking a girls team to a championship last week and then taking his boys and coming in here to fight like they did for a championship,” Benjamin said.
What The Statistics Said
Clark experienced offensive difficulties however, as the Bulldogs made only 12 of 39 field goal attempts.
Meanwhile the Vikings displayed more accuracy shooting 48 percent, despite receiving all but eight points from two players.
Point guard Jalen Brown, who received the championship game MVP award for the second year in a row, scored 11 for Avoyelles Charter. LaDamian George scored a game-high 12 points for the Bulldogs.
The Vikings were outrebounded 29-25, as George grabbed nine missed shots.
Clark recorded 12 steals, with Lawrence Pickney and Eric Nedd securing four each.
Rix said it was his intention to keep the Vikings from scoring over 50 points, but he added that offensively his team could have done better, while attempting to alternate tempo.
Benjamin added that Clark appeared to collapse defensively on Brown (23 points) and Amonii Benjamin, who also executed two key first half steals.
How They Scored
Each team experienced first half difficulties, as APCS experienced nine turnovers during the initial 16 minutes while the Bulldogs missed 13 of 21 field goal attempts.
Clark, who never trailed by more than four points during the first half, fell behind by seven (33-26) in the third quarter, before launching a game-changing 9-0 run that vaulted the Bulldogs into a 35-33 lead.
The Bulldogs missed all seven field goal attempts in the fourth period, but APCS failed to achieve separation.
Clark lost a key possession when the Bulldogs turned the ball over with 20 seconds left.
Meanwhile Brown scored six of the Vikings’ second fourth quarter points.
Benjamin kept APCS in front after making the front end of a two-shot free throw attempts, but the Vikings later missed two free throws with 5.5 seconds remaining.
The Bulldogs grabbed the rebound off the last miss, drove the entire length of the floor, but a potential six foot field goal attempt failed to go down.
