Landry-Walker overwhelms depleted Country Day, 67-36

WESTWEGO, La. – It was expected to be a marquee matchup of defending state champions. The outstanding play of Landry-Walker against a suspension-depleted Country Day squad negated the high expectations.

The defending Class 5A state champion Chargin’ Bucs dominated from start to finish in a 67-36 victory over the defending Division III state champion Cajuns in the opening round of the Allstate Sugar Bowl National Prep Classic at the Alario Center.

The Chargin’ Bucs trailed 3-2 when they went on a 14-0 run and never looked back. They led 19-5 after one quarter and 33-9 at the half after the Bucs had a 9-0 run late in the quarter. It was 54-21 after three quarters.

Landry-Walker head coach Antoine Byrd was pleased with his team’s performance.

“I thought we played with a lot of effort on defense and created some turnovers which created points for us,” Byrd said. “I thought out big men finished well on the inside. We knew they were missing key players but we went out and played hard. You cannot control that. There were a couple of good players for them that did not play. You just have to play with whoever is on the court.”

Country Day head coach Mike McGuire suspended six key contributors players for disciplinary reasons and it crippled the Cajuns.

“We wanted to give our young kids a chance to play,” McGuire said. “Against Landry-Walker, the defending state champs, we knew it would be tough. They are very good and we knew we would have to play very well out of the box and we did not. I thought our young kids competed well in the fourth quarter but they were a little nervous and didn’t compete the whole game. They got some valuable experience.”

McGuire said none of the suspended players will play in the tournament.

“They will not play this week,” McGuire said. “They will play again when they earn their spots back with the team. We will work hard and work them hard and get them better and ready to return to play as early as next week.”

Dywan Griffin led the Chargin’ Bucs (15-5) with 13 points while Breshaun Delpit finished with 10 points. Tory Cargo had nine points and six rebounds. Nicky Corchiani topped the Cajuns (8-7) with 13 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter. Shawn Royal had 10 points and six rebounds. Country Day committed 18 turnovers. Landry-Walker outrebounded the smaller Cajuns 33-21.

Landry-Walker advances to the quarterfinals Thursday afternoon to play the winner of Osceola High of Kissimmee, Florida and West Jefferson.

“We’ve played a tough schedule already,” Byrd said. “We’ve dropped five games to very good teams but we all know it’s a long season. The competition we have played will serve us well in this tournament and in the state playoffs. We are just continuing to fight through the process and keep on getting better game by game.”

Final
LW 19 14 21 13 67
CD 5 4 12 15 36

Scoring
LW—Dywan Griffin 13, Breshaun Delpit 10, Tory Cargo 9, Shadon Green 7, Semaj Matthew 7, Ronald Rhea 5, Tyrus Crawford 5, Jason Joseph 4, Gage Dorsey 3, Michael Edgerson 2

CD—Nicky Corchiani 13, Shawn Royal 10, Christian Becn3l 6, Scott Isaacs 2, Kohl Maier 2, Alex Dreyer 2, Jacob Mushatt 1

Results from Tuesday, Jan. 2 at Allstate Sugar Bowl National Prep Classic

Boys

Sophie B. Wright 64, Jehovah-Jireh 46

Riverside 77, Covington 60

University 67, Dunham 57

Helen Cox 70, Madison Prep 62

Landry-Walker 67, Country Day 36