REPLAY: St. Augustine downs John Ehret to advance to boys basketball state quarterfinals

MARRERO – It was a matchup of eighth and ninth seeds, between a team that has been there and done that most recently despite not being able to play at home for two seasons and a team trying to get there which was playing at home.

The team with no home but with experience made itself at home and depth prevailed.

Two-sport star Hubert Caliste pumped in 22 points, including five 3-pointers and No. 9 St. Augustine pulled away late to defeat No. 8 John Ehret 71-61 before a standing room-only crowd Tuesday night in the Select Division I state playoffs in a game seen live on CrescentCitySports.com. Caliste added six rebounds.

Caliste is a superb football tight end with many scholarship offers. He is an awfully good football player as well.

“My teammates got me in the right spot and I knocked the shots down,” Caliste said. “It was a huge win but we’re not done yet.”

There were nine lead changes and seven ties in the first quarter alone before St. Augustine took a 22-20 lead by the end of the quarter behind six points from Caliste. John Kelly III and Montel Robinson each had eight points for the Patriots.

The Purple Knights went on a 7-0 run early in the second quarter to open up a 31-22 lead but John Ehret answered with a 7-0 run to make it 31-29 and fought back to tie it 37-37 at halftime. Turner Duncan led St. Augustine with 11 points while Kelly had 10 for the Patriots.

There were four lead changes in the third quarter before the Purple Knights went on a 6-0 run and took a 52-45 lead after three quarters.

John Ehret fought back to cut the deficit to 59-56 in the fourth quarter and trailed 65-60 before St. Augustine finished the Patriots with a 6-1 run to end the game.

Turner Duncan scored 15 points and had seven rebounds and four assists and Danderick Green came off the bench to score 12 points and dished out five assists for the Purple Knights.

“This is great, especially because we haven’t had a gym for the past two years and it just makes us want it even more,” Duncan said. “Our energy was the difference. Our fans came out and supported us.”

John Kelly III led the Patriots (19-7) with 25 points, five rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocks. Montel Robinson had 17 points with five rebounds.

The Purple Knights dominated the offensive and defensive boards by a 37-21 margin.

“The difference was our kids playing tough together, relying on each other and trusting each other,” St. Augustine coach Gerald Lewis said. “We don’t have our own gym. It’s huge when you don’t have a rhythm. Every game is an away game for us. When Caliste is hitting his three’s, we’re a tough team.”

St. Augustine (20-16) has practiced at as many as 12 gyms and played its home games at St. Mary’s Academy this season as repairs to its gym continue following a fire last year.

The Purple Knights must now hit the road to take on defending state champion Scotlandville on the road in the semifinals. The Hornets whipped No. 17 Alexandria 69-40.

Scotlandville drilled St. Augustine 66-30 at home on Dec. 30.

In 2021, the Purple Knights defeated the Hornets 47-43 in the state title game and St. Aug downed Scotlandville in the 2011 state championship contest. Scotlandville defeated St. Augustine in the 2019 and 2020 state championship games.

With nothing to lose as a decided underdog, the traveling team will try to make itself at home again Friday night.

FINAL
St. Aug 22 15 15 19 — 71
Ehret 20 17 8 16 — 61

Scoring:
St. Augustine—Hubert Caliste 22, Turner Duncan 15, Danderick Green 12, Cy Merritt 8, Devin Johnson 7, Josh Jackson 7

John Ehret—John Kelly III 25, Montel Robinson 17, Allen Shaw Jr. 6, JaQuan Brignac 5, Aslton Rabathaly 3, Michael Sylvester 3, Frederick Moffett 3

Rebounds: St. Augustine 37, John Ehret 20

Turnovers: St. Augustine 13, John Ehret 8

Assists: St. Augustine 10, John Ehret 10