REPLAY: Shaw ends losing streak at Jesuit with crucial district win

NEW ORLEANS – It had been 18 years since Archbishop Shaw won a basketball game at Jesuit, the last victory coming in 2004.

That streak ended Friday night.

The Eagles broke open a close game in the second half in a convincing 65-48 victory in District 9-5A action at Tom and Gayle Benson Arena in a game aired live on CrescentCitySports.com.

The last win for Shaw at “The Birdcage” was in 2004.

In fact, between 2008 and 2020, Jesuit defeated Shaw 23 straight times with Chris Jennings at the helm.

Now, with former Jennings top assistant Wes Laurendine, the Eagles have beaten the Blue Jays three of the last four times they have met, including a sweep this season.

Shaw edged Jesuit 61-59 in Marrero on Jan. 11.

Kam Johnson controlled play from start to finish with his dribble penetration and aggressive defense.

“It’s defense, all about defense,” Johnson said. “When you keep playing defense, offense is going to come. We trust the game plan. We knew what to do. We executed. We’ve got to silence the crowd. We’re not worried about any of that noise. We’ve just got to stay locked in to what we do and stay focused.”

The junior scored 21 points, dished out eight assists, pulled down five rebounds and had four steals.

The first quarter saw five lead changes and three ties as Jesuit took a 14-12 lead behind six points from Matthew Knight.

Shaw went on a pair of 7-0 runs in the second quarter and took a 28-23 halftime lead behind eight points from Johnson.

The Eagles came out of the locker room on fire, opening the third quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 36-23 lead before the Blue Jays went on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 38-33. Shaw scored the last four points of the quarter to lead 42-33 going to the final quarter.

The run continued in the fourth quarter as the Eagles grabbed a 46-35 lead and never looked back, maintaining a double digit the lead the rest of the way as they pulled away for a huge win.

Senior Rodney Phillips overcame early foul trouble to score 15 points, including 12 in the second half and pulled down four rebounds.

“In the first half, I picked up two bad fouls,” Phillips said. “I felt like the second half was mine and I had to perform well and did to get the win. We just started playing harder in the second half. We figured this game was the most important game. Our second half defense was the difference in the game. Every time we came here, it was a close game. I wanted to close out my senior year by winning here.”

Aiden LaSalle was huge with 13 points, eight rebounds and two assists and Jene Baquet was solid with eight points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals.

“We stressed getting the ball to Rodney, our big guy, all week,” Laurendine said. “We just don’t think they have an answer for him. He got in foul trouble early but we came out, boom, we got it to him and it made all the difference. At halftime, we talked about going out and having fun. This team plays really well when their out there sharing the ball really well, being unselfish. Kameron is a special player but he’s always making the right passes. It’s a little bit easier when you’ve got a guy like that.”

Knight topped Jesuit with 16 points, six rebounds and two steals while Jude Laforge came off the bench with energy to score eight points with five rebounds.

“The second half got away from us,” Jesuit coach Chris Jennings said. “I really felt in the first half, that was our real chance to take control of the game and we didn’t. Phillips was in foul trouble in the first half and we didn’t take advantage of him not being in the game. Credit to them. They defended really hard and crushed us on the offensive boards and they shot well.”

Currently third in the Division I power rankings, Shaw (22-4, 8-1) increased its lead in the Catholic League to two games over Jesuit with the victory. The Eagles step out of district play to host red hot Country Day Tuesday night.

The Blue Jays (17-9, 5-3) travel to face St. Augustine Tuesday night at Dillard.

FINAL
SHAW 12 16 14 23 — 65
JESUIT 14 9 10 15 — 48

Scoring:
SHAW—Kam Johnson 21, Rodney Phillips 15, Aiden LaSalle 13, Jene Baquet 8, Austin LaSalle 5, Christian Creppel 3

JESUIT—Matthew Knight 16, Jude Laforge 8, Michael Britsch 8, Jasper Parker 7, Will Sheridan 5, Brock Guillot 4

Rebounds:
SHAW 28, JESUIT 23

Turnovers:
SHAW 12, JESUIT 9