Brusly runs past Port Allen, wins District 7-3A title
BRUSLY — Brusly and Port Allen fans packed the Brusly gym for a 7-3A basketball showdown on Friday night, and Brusly principal Walt Lemoine declared the game sold out just before the start of the varsity game. With first place in the district on the line, the teams added another chapter to the storied westside rivalry.
Brusly (21-8, 8-2) blew open a close game with a third quarter explosion and outscored the Pelicans 41-26 in the second half in rolling to a 65-47 victory.
The win gave the Panthers the outright district championship, their first since 2002, while Port Allen (21-8, 7-3) slipped into second place, tied with Donaldsonville, which beat St. James 61-47 Friday night.
“The kids kept believing,” Brusly coach Harold Boudreaux said. “At halftime they were so focused. I made every kid write on their forearm ‘district champions’ before the game and I told them if they felt like taking a break to look at their arm. I tell you what — it turned out pretty good for us tonight.”
A big key to the game was the way the Panthers controlled Port Allen’s sophomore guard Nick Parker.
Parker scored 39 in a Pelicans’ win over Brusly earlier in the season, but tallied only eight in this game.
“He’s the key factor, the one that makes their team go,” Boudreaux said. “We talked a lot about him, and we had to keep coming with it. We did change things up a little, going to a sagging man-to-man, and Donald Williams had primary responsibility to always keep (Parker) in his vision the whole time.”
Parker had a frustrating night offensively, with many shots barely rimming out.
His coach, Brandon Ricard, also had a frustrating night watching the Pelicans’ second half collapse.
“In the first half we turned up the defense and got some shots to fall. In the second half it just looked like we were tired and were missing shots that normally fall,” Ricard said. “It just seemed like we were a little bit out of sync. But I give Brusly and coach Boudreaux credit. They played a good game, and they’re the district champs.
“There’s no secrets between us. We’ve seen each other so many times. We beat them three times, so I guess they were bound to get us one of those times.”
As a team, Brusly shot what Boudreaux called an “amazing” 73 percent for the game. Spears finished with 26 points and Jackson 20.
Darian Claiborne had 17 to lead Port Allen, while Jarius Paul followed with 13, eight of them coming in the fourth quarter when he connected on two 3-point shots.
Defense ruled in the low-scoring first half as Brusly took its biggest lead of the game at 24-21. The half featured 10 ties and 10 lead changes.
Free throw shooting was the key for the Pelicans as they knocked down eight foul shots in the half.
Brusly, meanwhile, rode the hot shooting of Spears and Jackson to keep pace. Spears started with eight points in the first quarter and Jackson added six in the second.