Graves great as Ponchatoula drills Slidell to return to Lake Charles

PONCHATOULA – Santa Clara signee Allen Graves of Ponchatoula was the Most Outstanding Player in the Non-Select Division I state tournament a year ago when Ponchatoula claimed its first-ever state title in Lake Charles.

If Graves is not the best overall player in Louisiana, it certainly does not take long to call the roll.

Graves was on a roll Friday night, leading second-seeded Ponchatoula to a convincing 95-64 victory over District 6-5A rival Slidell in the Non-Select Division I quarterfinals before a standing room only crowd at the Ponchatoula gym.

Graves pieced together a complete, awesome performance with 37 points, 16 rebounds, six blocks, four assists and two steals. That included four 3-pointers in his final game at home in his brilliant career.

“It definitely means a lot since it’s my senior year, coming in and winning my last home game against a good Slidell team by this much, it’s just a good feeling to put up the numbers I did and win,” Graves said.

Ponchatoula is up big in the 3rd quarter and @allengraves_5 decides to give us this gem. Wave currently beating Slidell by 27 in the 4th. @WGNOtv @WGNOsports pic.twitter.com/cWQavMmQ7f

— Richie Mills (@richiemills) March 2, 2024

Jeremiah Lewis provided excellent support, drilling six 3-pointers, scoring 22 points as the Green Wave dominated from the outside as well, making 14 shots from 3-point range.

The Green Wave were determined not to start slowly, as they did in a regular season matchup at Slidell on January 30, when the Green Wave fell 20 points behind and rallied to win 73-71.

“That definitely was a lot of motivation,” Graves said. “We prepared very well for tonight’s game and showed what we learned in practice. Coach Taylor did a great job of preparing us.”

There was no slow start this time and no mystery.

“We didn’t play our best basketball that first time,” Ponchatoula coach Tom Taylor said. “We knew coming here that our four quarters would be better than their four quarters. We had to out and prove it.”

Graves dominated the game in all phases. The strategy was clear.

“Give it to Allen Graves and get out of the way,” Taylor said. “He’s a heck of a player, unselfish. He makes everybody around him better.”

The first quarter saw three lead changes and two ties. Ponchatoula had an 11-7 lead before Slidell closed the quarter on a 7-2 run to take a 14-13 lead behind a pair of 3-pointers by Jereme Landor.

Graves and the Green Wave took over in the second quarter, burying the Tigers. The Green Wave opened the quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 20-14 lead and closed the quarter on a decisive 16-0 run to expand the advantage to 40-20 at the break. Graves had 17 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and an assist in the half.

“It was definitely our aggressiveness in the second quarter,” Graves said. “There was a lot of talk between the teams before the game. Once we got it out of our heads, we pulled away.”

The Green Wave continued the onslaught in the third quarter, opening the period on a 9-0 run and never looked back, taking a 68-41 lead to the fourth quarter.

Taj Jackson scored 12 points while Chaleb Seaberry added nine points for the Green Wave.

Jereme Landor topped the Tigers (27-9) with 13 points while Jaden Hookfin, Mike Parlow and Grant Bonnaffons each had nine points.

It was the 24th win of the season by 15 points or more for the Green Wave, who have scored 192 points combined in two playoff wins.

Ponchatoula (28-4) returns to Lake Charles next week to the semifinals to face the winner of No. 3 New Iberia and No. 6 Southside. Ponchatoula defeated New Iberia 63-48 in last year’s title game when Graves scored 23 points, pulled down 16 rebounds, blocked five shots and dished out three assists.

“It’s a great feeling, not many coaches get that opportunity,” Taylor said. “We’re lucky to have another one. I think we managed it well last time. We’re going to try to go do it again.”

Whomever the Green Wave face will have to deal with Graves again, a year later and a year better.

“We’re ready to go to Lake Charles and prove that it wasn’t a fluke last year,” Graves said. “Last year, we were new to it so we didn’t know what to do. This year, we’ll have a good feel for how it’s going to be. Just the experience will help a lot.”

What would it mean to go back-to-back as state champions?

“It would mean a lot to win two in a row, to stamp our names in the history books at the school and I would love to leave my mark here just to prove that God is good and He can do anything,” Graves said.

Taylor, no doubt, gives a big “Amen” to that sentiment.

FINAL
Slidell 14 6 20 23 — 64
Ponchatoula 13 27 28 27 — 95

Scoring:
Slidell: Jereme Landor 13, Mike Parlow 9, Grant Bonnaffons 9, Jaden Hookfin 9, James Chaney 8, Kolby Rachel 5, Payton Brookter 3, Dwayne Mills 2

Ponchatoula: Allen Graves 37, Jeremiah Lewis 22, Taj Jackson 12, Chaleb Seaberry 9, Cory Jackson 6, Reese Elzy 5, Jarvis Labee 2, CJ Braziel 2

Rebounds:
Slidell 30, Ponchatoula 38

Assists:
Slidell 10, Ponchatoula 22

Turnovers:
Slidell 12, Ponchatoula 9

Steals:
Slidell 6, Ponchatoula 6

Blocks:
Slidell 1, Ponchatoula 9