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Southern Lab topples Grambling in 1A semis
By AL TIRCUIT
Special to The Advocate
LAFAYETTE -- Southern Lab coach Joel Hawkins knows that a basketball team has to have something special to become a champion. He said he believes his Kittens have that something special.
"You can't tell about the heart of a champion," Hawkins said. "It makes a difference when you're a champion."
Hawkins' Kittens proved they have the heart of a finalist in charging past Grambling's Kittens for 79-55 victory in Class 1A State Farm/Louisiana High School Athletic Association Top 28 Boys State Championship Tournament action in the Cajundome on Monday night.
Southern Lab (29-3) used the combination of tenacious man-to-man defense and prolific outside shooting to overcome a strong inside power game by Grambling (28-2).
Southern Lab shot a torrid 49.7-percent from the field. That effort included 31.8-percent from 3-point range.
"We shot the ball very well," Hawkins said. "We showed people we can shoot."
Southern Lab's defense forced 20 turnovers by Grambling.
"You can't determine what a champion is," said Hawkins, his team in position to win its 13th title in 22 Top 28 appearances. "These kids are champions because they've been around it all of their lives.
"These kids grew up around champions. It makes a difference because we don't have any great basketball players. We do have a fine basketball team and basketball is a team sport. They play hard because they know that their coach expects nothing less."
Jason Stampley hit four 3-point shots and scored 34 points for Southern Lab. Matthew Barrow hit three 3-pointers to contribute 18 points and Justin Plummer added 10.
Southern Lab twice built up five-point advantages in the first half only to see Grambling rally to stay within 29-27 at intermission.
Southern Lab took control of the game 32-27 when Stampley hit his first 3-pointer of the second half with 7:28 remaining in the third quarter. His basket started a 21-13 run that ended when Barrow scored on put-back to give the Kittens a 50-40 lead as the third quarter ended.
Grambling's 6-foot-8 forward Paul Milsaps scored 40 points and had 13 rebounds. But his sterling performance wasn't strong enough to overcome Southern Lab, which held Grambling guard Terrance Giles to five points.
"It was a heckuva game," Hawkins said. "Grambling has a fine team and is very big. We knew coming in that Milsaps was going to get his points and figured that he'd get his anyway.
"We wanted to make sure that no one else got involved in offensive end of the game for them.
"That meant that our kids needed to play strong man-to-man defense and keep the Giles kid from scoring. He had a great game against Delhi last week so we knew that we'd have to take him away from them. I thought that our kids did a sensational job of that."
By AL TIRCUIT
Special to The Advocate
LAFAYETTE -- Southern Lab coach Joel Hawkins knows that a basketball team has to have something special to become a champion. He said he believes his Kittens have that something special.
"You can't tell about the heart of a champion," Hawkins said. "It makes a difference when you're a champion."
Hawkins' Kittens proved they have the heart of a finalist in charging past Grambling's Kittens for 79-55 victory in Class 1A State Farm/Louisiana High School Athletic Association Top 28 Boys State Championship Tournament action in the Cajundome on Monday night.
Southern Lab (29-3) used the combination of tenacious man-to-man defense and prolific outside shooting to overcome a strong inside power game by Grambling (28-2).
Southern Lab shot a torrid 49.7-percent from the field. That effort included 31.8-percent from 3-point range.
"We shot the ball very well," Hawkins said. "We showed people we can shoot."
Southern Lab's defense forced 20 turnovers by Grambling.
"You can't determine what a champion is," said Hawkins, his team in position to win its 13th title in 22 Top 28 appearances. "These kids are champions because they've been around it all of their lives.
"These kids grew up around champions. It makes a difference because we don't have any great basketball players. We do have a fine basketball team and basketball is a team sport. They play hard because they know that their coach expects nothing less."
Jason Stampley hit four 3-point shots and scored 34 points for Southern Lab. Matthew Barrow hit three 3-pointers to contribute 18 points and Justin Plummer added 10.
Southern Lab twice built up five-point advantages in the first half only to see Grambling rally to stay within 29-27 at intermission.
Southern Lab took control of the game 32-27 when Stampley hit his first 3-pointer of the second half with 7:28 remaining in the third quarter. His basket started a 21-13 run that ended when Barrow scored on put-back to give the Kittens a 50-40 lead as the third quarter ended.
Grambling's 6-foot-8 forward Paul Milsaps scored 40 points and had 13 rebounds. But his sterling performance wasn't strong enough to overcome Southern Lab, which held Grambling guard Terrance Giles to five points.
"It was a heckuva game," Hawkins said. "Grambling has a fine team and is very big. We knew coming in that Milsaps was going to get his points and figured that he'd get his anyway.
"We wanted to make sure that no one else got involved in offensive end of the game for them.
"That meant that our kids needed to play strong man-to-man defense and keep the Giles kid from scoring. He had a great game against Delhi last week so we knew that we'd have to take him away from them. I thought that our kids did a sensational job of that."
