Boys Basketball: Brother Martin, St. Aug win to set up showdown; ESJ, Country Day win Friday

Area Boys Prep Basketball Report for Saturday, Feb. 20

While there will be no official crowning of a Catholic League champion in basketball, don’t tell Brother Martin and St. Augustine that.

The two Gentilly rivals set up a final showdown for first place in 9-5A with district wins Friday night.

Brother Martin had to rally to defeat Holy Cross 49-43.

The Crusaders led 13-10 after one quarter but the Tigers took a 22-20 lead at halftime.

The third quarter was huge for Brother Martin, outscoring Holy Cross 15-6 to take a 35-28 after three quarters.

The story for Brother Martin was senior Grant DeLord, who scored 21 points and pulled down 13 rebounds.

In the process, DeLord joined the elite 1,000 point club in the storied history of Brother Martin basketball.

The Crusaders won the game at the free throw line, sinking 18-of-20 attempts (90%). They overcame 18 turnovers for the win.

Brother Martin crushed the Tigers on the glass with 40 rebounds to just 21 for Holy Cross.

With a quick turnaround, Brother Martin (21-7, 9-1) will travel a short distance to battle St. Augustine tonight at 7 p.m. for the unofficial Catholic League title.

The Purple Knights saw to that with a solid 61-50 win over John Curtis Christian, avenging an earlier district loss to the Patriots.

St. Augustine led from start to finish, taking a 17-10 lead after one quarter and expanded the edge to 36-20 by halftime. It was 49-30 going to the final quarter.

Ashton Trufant led a balanced St. Aug attack with 14 points and five rebounds, Nassir DeGruy had 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists and Mike Coleman finished with 10 points.

Darius Rockett topped John Curtis with 11 points and five rebounds while Jourdan Stipe had 10 points and five rebounds.

St. Augustine (17-7, 8-2) edged Brother Martin 63-60 on Wednesday. John Curtis had beaten the Purple Knights 53-46 on Jan. 26.

East St. John closed out its regular season with a 68-57 victory at home over Thibodaux in District 7-5A.

Kylon Harris led the Wildcats with 23 points, Jahyrie Victor had 16 points and John Bowser finished with 10 points.

East St. John (22-7, 9-2) will likely get an opening round home game in the playoffs . The Wildcats were 15th in the most recent Class 5A power rankings. The Tigers are 9-12, 4-4 in district play.

No one really wants to see Country Day in the Division IV playoffs.

Always a threat, the Cajuns ended their regular season with a 75-60 win at home over Northlake Christian for their third straight win.

The Cajuns trailed 31-30 at halftime before they rallied behind sophomore center Darryl Williams, who scored all 13 of his points in the second half. Jordan Trahan finished with 10 points.

Tony Walker led the Wolverines (11-11) with 18 points.

Xane Hunter led Country Day with 24 points. The Cajuns trailed 31-30 at halftime

Country Day (12-9) will enter the playoffs in Division IV, most likely as the fifth seed.

Area Boys Prep Basketball Results from Friday, Feb. 19

Archbishop Hannan 63, Warren Easton 53

Ascension Christian 61, St. Martin’s Episcopal 56

Brother Martin 49, Holy Cross 43

Chalmette 53, Riverdale 20

Country Day 75, Northlake Christian 60

De La Salle 77, Kenner Discovery 38

East St. John 68, Thibodaux 57

French Settlement 78, Holden 64

Hahnville 60, Destrehan 45

Hammond 63, Ponchatoula 60

Lakeshore 70, Franklinton 36

Lusher Charter 68, Ben Franklin 60

Mandeville 71, Covington 52

McDonogh 35 48, Douglass 44

Morris Jeff Community 73, Sarah Reed 64

Patrick Taylor 55, Haynes Academy 40

Patterson 47, Lutcher 41

Phoenix 58, Grand Isle 41

Salmen 72, Pearl River 42

Slidell 70, Northshore 55

St. Augustine 61, John Curtis Christian 50

St. Paul’s 72, Fontainebleau 69