De La Salle delivers in fourth quarter to down Donaldsonville, 70-60

NEW ORLEANS – Poise and accuracy.

As the defending Division II state champion, De La Salle exhibited both a year ago. Tuesday night, those characteristics came to the forefront at the most important time.

Senior Jalen Henry scored 17 points, including five 3-pointers and sophomore John Kelly converted all 10 free throw attempts in the decisive fourth quarter to pace De La Salle to a 70-60 home victory over Donaldsonville in a showdown for first place in District 10-3A.

“It gave me a lot of confidence to hit shots early because the last two games, I had not been shooting that well,” Henry said. “When I get open, my teammates trust me to knock down shots. I can’t just shoot crazy shots. I’ve got to get in the flow in the offense and I was able to do that tonight.”

Kelly finished with 13 points, added eight rebounds and six assists in an outstanding performance.

“That’s kudos to our coaches, they always put on us on the (free throw) line in practice,” Kelly said. “I wanted the moment, I wanted the free throws and to come up big for my teammates. We’re always taught to battle and battle and battle,” Kelly said. “If we play our hardest and play unselfish, we will come out with the result we want.”

De La Salle head coach Paul Kelly was pleased with the victory.

“It was a good win for us,” coach Kelly said. “I thought we played three really good quarters. We just sort of hit the skids in the second quarter. I thought we got good looks. Donaldsonville is a good team, they are well coached and they have great size. They slowed the tempo down and got right back into the game.”

When things got tough, the Cavaliers responded.

“Our guys just really challenged themselves,” coach Kelly said. “I was super proud of Jalen Henry and Noble Scott, our two seniors, who really responded in the second half. The staple of what we do is to make the next pass, to hit the open man. We were able to hit free throws in the fourth quarter to ice the game. John is a good free throw shooter and he plays with a lot of poise for someone his age. I thought he was really solid throughout the game taking care of the ball. When he got fouled, he was tough enough to knock them down.”

Scott finished with 15 points on five 3-pointers.

The Cavaliers (14-9, 4-0) came out smoking, knocking down six 3-pointers in the opening quarter, including two each by Jalen Henry and Noble Scott to take a 22-8 lead after one quarter. Henry led the way with eight points. Donaldsonville committed five turnovers in the period.

The Tigers (9-14 ,3-1) began to establish their superior size in the second quarter, going on a 7-0 run to cut a 13-point deficit to six before closing the half on a 7-0 run to pull within 29-28 at halftime. Terrell Brown had 10 points in the half, including a trio of 3-pointers. Dwayne Johnson had eight points in the second quarter. Scott topped De La Salle with nine points, all on 3-pointers. The Cavaliers sank 14 shots from 3-point range.

“Coach got on us halftime after the second quarter and the run they had but after that, it was good,” Henry said. “We are used to playing bigger teams. The goal is to go unbeaten in district play.”

The third quarter was back and forth, with seven lead changes. Henry hit a 3-pointer to give De La Salle a 46-43 lead going to the fourth quarter.

The Tigers committed 16 turnovers, which hurt their cause. Brown was outstanding, leading all scorers with 25 points, including six 3-pointers while Johnson had 14 points and five rebounds. Everett Wilson had eight points and nine rebounds for Donaldsonville.

De La Salle, which has now won four straight games, has a week off before returning to action next Tuesday at home against Lusher while Donaldsonville travels to St. James Friday night in district action.

Despite being just a sophomore, John Kelly understands the winning tradition he is now part of.

“It’s a big legacy that we’ve had to live up to,” Kelly said. “We’ve undefeated in district since my brother’s been here. It just means a lot to the players that have been here before. It’s a good feeling.”

The two teams will meet again on Feb. 16 at Donaldsonville in the final game of the regular season.

Final
DLS 22 7 17 24 — 70
DON 8 20 15 17 — 60

Scoring
DLS—Jalen Henry 17, Noble Scott 15, John Kelly 13, Malcolm Coleman 12, Jalen Ned 7, Abriham Frye 6

DON—Terrell Brown 25, Dwayne Johnson 14, Everett Wilson 8, Deontre Powe 6, Ladarius Jackson 4, James Gipson 2

Rebounds
DLS 26, DON 30

Turnovers
DLS 10, DON 16

Area Prep Basketball Results for Tues., Jan. 30

Boys

New Orleans Area

Amite 70, Independence 40

Archbishop Hannan 39, Loranger 35

Bonnabel 76, John Ehret 37

Covington 69, Slidell 53

Crescent City Christian 67, Holden 22

John Curtis Christian 67, Archbishop Rummel 63 (OT)

De La Salle 70, Donaldsonville 60

Doyle 63, French Settlement 52

Fontainebleau 58, Northshore 43

Franklinton 68, Pearl River 52

Holy Cross 56, Archbishop Shaw 36

Thomas Jefferson 61, Fisher 36

Lusher 68, Northlake Christian 36

McMain 57, Patrick Taylor 12

Newman 60, South Plaquemines 31

Phoenix 59, Grand Isle 32

Pope John Paul II 64, Pine 41

Riverdale 64, Ben Franklin 53

Salmen 71, Lakeshore 43

St. Augustine 26, Jesuit 23

St. James 55, St. Charles Catholic 34

St. Martin’s Episcopal 47, Houma Christian 40

St. Paul’s 72, Hammond 57

St. Thomas Aquinas 56, St. Helena 39

Thibodaux 53, Destrehan 47

Sophie B. Wright 100, M.L. King Charter 62

Baton Rouge Area

Baker 75, Glen Oaks 65

Belaire 65, Central 43

Brusly 62, West Feliciana 50

Catholic (BR) 50, McKinley 47

Denham Springs 51, Live Oak 45

Dunham 76, The Church Academy 41

East Iberville 62, Ascension Catholic 41

Episcopal 75, Capitol 57

False River 64, Westminster Christian 56

Kentwood 68, Ascension Christian 47

Livonia 74, Opelousas 65

Lutcher 66, Tara 51

Madison Prep 96, Mentorship Academy 51

Plaquemine 86, Lee 36

Port Allen 78, Northeast 56

Runnels 66, St. John 50

Scotlandville 68, Walker 67

St. Amant 72, Dutchtown 52

St. Michael 68, Parkview Baptist 35

University 81, Jehovah-Jireh 67

Bayou Area

Assumption 74, South Terrebonne 56

Central Lafourche 53, KIPP-B.T. Washington 45

Covenant Christian 69, West St. John 62

Ellender 65, Helen Cox 58

Franklin 72, Loreauville 61

Hahnville 68, Terrebonne 52

Lafayette Christian 73, Central Catholic 50

Morgan City 67, E.D. White Catholic 52

South Lafourche 58, Vandebilt Catholic 30

Thibodaux 53, Destrehan 47

Vermilion Catholic 76, Centerville 70

West St. Mary 78, Delcambre 38

Girls

New Orleans Area

Academy of The Sacred Heart 39, Lusher 25

Albany 70, Bogalusa 36

Amite 87, Independence 55

Cabrini 51, Ben Franklin 31

Doyle 44, French Settlement 33

Fontainebleau 46, Northshore 31

Franklinton 43, St. Scholastica 20

Higgins 71, Grace King 25

Houma Christian 75, St. Martin’s Episcopal 37

Loranger 73, Archbishop Hannan 6

Newman 44, McGehee 33

Northlake Christian 34, Cohen 18

Pine 44, Pope John Paul II 24

Ponchatoula 63, Mandeville 28

Riverside 57, Country Day 37

Slidell 84, Covington 40

St. James 63, Donaldsonville 57

Thibodaux 47, Destrehan 20

Baton Rouge Area

Brusly 43, West Feliciana 35

Central 52, Belaire 16

Denham Springs 41, Live Oak 32

Dunham 31, The Church Academy 18

Warren Easton 63, University 50

Episcopal 52, Capitol 12

False River 66, Westminster Christian 40

Glen Oaks 77, Baker 43

Lee 63, Plaquemine 41

Madison Prep 71, Mentorship Academy 27

McKinley 59, St. Joseph’s Academy 37

Port Allen 50, Northeast 16

Southern Lab 73, White Castle 55

St. John 46, Central Lafourche 32

Walker 48, Scotlandville 32

Bayou Area

Delcambre 40, West St. Mary 34

Hahnville 51, Terrebonne 21

Highland Baptist 43, Berwick 38

Lafayette Christian 56, Central Catholic 24

South Lafourche 81, Vandebilt Catholic 29

Area Prep Basketball Schedule for Wed., Jan. 31

Boys

New Orleans Area

John Curtis Christian at Salmen, 6 p.m.

Grace King at Haynes, 6 p.m.

Patrick Taylor at M.L. King Charter, 6:15 p.m.

Sophie B. Wright at Newman, 7 p.m.

Baton Rouge Area

Opelousas at Dunham, 7 p.m.

South Plaquemines at Maurepas, 6:15 p.m.

St. Paul’s at Madison Prep, 7 p.m.

Bayou Area

East St. John at Thibodaux, 6 p.m.

Girls

New Orleans Area

Bonnabel at West Jefferson, 4 p.m.

Cohen at Karr, 5:30 p.m.

John Curtis Christian at Salmen, 6 p.m.

Independence at Pine, 6 p.m.

St. James at Ursuline, 5 p.m.

Baton Rouge Area

Assumption @ Zachary, 5 p.m.

Baker at West Feliciana, 5 p.m.

Springfield at East Feliciana, 6 p.m.

Bayou Area

East St. John at Thibodaux, 6 p.m.

Hahnville at Terrebonne, 6 p.m.