High School

Top Performers Shine at LCA and Sunkist Shootout; Louisiana's Elite Basketball Teams Battle

Wossman, Zachary, and St. Thomas More headline thrilling matchups across Louisiana's premier high school basketball tournaments, showcasing state-ranked talent and future stars

Gary Adornato, Mike Coppage

St. Thomas More went 4-0 in winning the 42nd Sunkist Shootout.
St. Thomas More went 4-0 in winning the 42nd Sunkist Shootout. / STM Cougar Basketball/X.com

Ranked girls teams collide in Day 1 of Lafayette Christian Tournament 

Several teams in the Top 25 Louisiana Girls High School Basketball State Rankings are dueling at the Lafayette Christian Tournament, which saw No. 1 Wossman defeat Lafayette High, No. 6 Zachary win against Ponchatoula, No. 11 Vandebilt Catholic beat No. 9 Woodlawn-BR and No. 10 Lafayette Christian edge No. 25 J.S. Clark. 

Woodlawn (11-4) had a chance to take the lead with the score 37-36 but missed a shot, and 6-foot-0 junior guard Journee Johnson hit a 3-pointer, Maddie Dufrene added two free throws and Neal Grace-Berry made a lay-up for a 44-36 lead Vandebilt Catholic lead.

Tyanna Stewart (16 points) got a steal, and the Terriers went on to win, 45-38. Johnson posted 10 points for Vandebilt Catholic (7-4), which will face LCA (9-5) in the semifinals today (Friday) at 5:30 P.M. 

The Knights got past J.S. Clark, 43-41. LCA led by 14 points, 20-6, in the first half, but the Bulldogs got right back in it at 20-18. Point guard Taelyn Taylor dished an assist to Kaliyah Samuels on a pick and roll for a 35-26 lead, and Taylor Barnaba responded with a 3 for J.S. Clark (13-5).

The Knights held a 39-33 lead with six minutes left. Barnaba's bucket on the baseline initially appeared to tie it at 43-43 in the final minute, but the shot was negated by an offensive foul. 

Samuels paced LCA with 16 points. Shanna Simien, who converted a 3-point play for an early 13-5 lead, added 10 points. Payton Dean and Logan Boutte combined for 13 points. Barnaba had 19 points for the Bulldogs. 

Zachary and Wossman will meet in the other semifinal this evening at 7 P.M. The Broncos handled Ponchatoula, 60-41, as Ava Raymond scored 24 points. Tiarra McPipe, Kennedi Whitfield and KP Blake scored eight points apiece. 

McPipe did stellar defensive work guarding Green Wave star guard Alyssa Hillard, who scored 15 points with 12 coming in the first half and three free throws after the break. Zachary boasts excellent size. Raymond and McPipe are physical guards in the 5-foot-8 to 5-9 range. Cimya Rideaux and Madison Alcerro provide even more length.

Host St. Thomas More wins 42nd annual Sunkist Shootout 

St. Thomas More's boys swept four games to win its tournament. In the final, the 8-1 Cougars defeated Calvary Baptist, 33-31. Senior Elijah Guidry, who scored 19 points in the semis and was assigned to guard Sulphur's Ian Malone and Calvary Baptist's Tyrone Jamison in the last two games, was named Mr. Basketball. 

Calvary Baptist (12-2) beat Lafayette Christian, Vandebilt Catholic and Isidore Newman to reach the finals. The Cavaliers (No. 1), Newman and Catholic New Iberia, which placed fifth at the Sunkist, are all in the top eight of the Division III select power ratings. 

Catholic New Iberia (6-4), which lost to Calvary Baptist a couple of years ago at the state tournament, has won six of seven games since getting its football players back. The Panthers beat Vandebilt Catholic by 10 points and lost by three to Newman. 

Joab Trosclair (6-10) and Jacob Minvielle (6-8) patrol the paint for CHS, which has several excellent guards including Jaiden Mitchell and Tristan Lewis. Sophomore Karon Eugene, a first team all-state defensive back in football, engaged Vandebilt's Jordan Matthews in a physical battle that lasted all four quarters.

The Terriers (9-4) and Newman (8-3), which lost to Sulphur in the third-place game, dropped out of the top 25 but could return in the near future. Vandebilt has speed to burn with its array of guards. 

R.J. Livingston took over in Newman's win over Catholic New Iberia, which could debut in the rankings with wins over Cecilia tonight and undefeated Liberty Magnet (9-0) at home on Tuesday. Newman 6-foot-5 forward Payton Foster was sidelined at the tournament by an injury. 


Sulphur senior Ian Malone, who made the All-Tournament Team, was a frequent topic of conversation among coaches at the Sunkist. The 6-foot-0 senior scored 64 points in a recent two-game span. Sulphur (14-3) beat Ascension Episcopal, reigning Division III nonselect champion Marksville and Newman at the tourney. 

Westgate (6-5), which has 10 freshmen on its roster, has one of the state's top frosh in Cayden Lancelin, who scored 24 points with nine rebounds and eight steals in an opening-round win over Lafayette Renaissance. The Tigers are hosting their WAMP Classic where they could meet Lafayette Renaissance again in the championship. LRCA is coached by former Westgate associate head coach Brad Boyd.

Church Point and first-year head coach Josh Moreau turned heads by easily handling Class 5A Brother Martin (50-40) and Barbe (53-33) sandwiched around close losses to Newman (63-56) and Teurlings Catholic (33-31). The Bears are 10-6. Teurlings (9-4), which has won eight of its last nine games, has two 6-foot-8 forwards in juniors De'Von Warren and Jordan Senegal.

Miscellaneous Notes 

Mal Mundy assembled a four-game New Year's Classic on Jan. 1 at Central-BR with GEO Next defeating McMain (54-35), L.B. Landry over Plaquemine (63-54), Madison Prep over David Thibodaux (56-23) and Central over Southside, 61-56. Landry's Daryl Adams and Central's Jace Conrad drew praise from Mundy. 

Mundy and The Tour Basketball will take the show to Lake Charles College Prep on Jan. 4 for these games: Sam Houston vs. Independence, Jennings vs. Franklin Parish, St. Louis Catholic vs. defending Division IV nonselect champion Franklin High, Washington-Marion vs. Northwest and LCCP vs. Beau Chene. 

Also this weekend, Wossman and Carroll will face Baton Rouge powers Zachary and Liberty Magnet in a pair of doubleheaders. Zachary (13-0) and Liberty are No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the boys top 25 rankings. Wossman (12-2) is No. 11. Carroll (9-7) dropped out of the rankings but can beat anybody on a given night (wins over Peabody, Captain Shreve and Alexandria).

Speaking of Peabody, the No. 5-ranked Warhorses (15-1) host No. 7 Alexandria (15-2) tonight at 7 P.M. 

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Gary Adornato
GARY ADORNATO

Gary Adornato began covering high school sports with the Baltimore Sun in 1982, while still a mass communications major at Towson University, and in 2003 became one of the first journalists to cover high school sports online while operating MIAASports.com, the official website of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association. Later, Adornato pioneered market-wide coverage of high school sports with DigitalSports.com, introducing video highlights and player interviews while assembling an award-winning editorial staff. In 2010, he launched VarsitySportsNetwork.com which became the premier source of high school media coverage in the state of Maryland. In 2022, he sold VSN to The Baltimore Banner and joined SBLive Sports as the company's East Coast Managing Editor.

Mike Coppage
MIKE COPPAGE

Mike Coppage is a Louisiana-based veteran reporter with decades of experience covering recruiting and high school sports for Scout, Rivals, The Acadiana Advocate and The Daily Iberian. He has been freelancing for High School On SI since 2024.

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