Avoyelles Charter holds on to earn second straight Division V select championship
LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA – Trailing 35-33 after three quarters, Avoyelles Charter did not panic after giving up nine unanswered points.
It realized it had a championship to defend.
Surviving a last-second attempt by JS Clark sophomore La’Damian George, Avoyelles Charter repeated as Division V select champions, 40-38, at Burton Coliseum.
“(I told them) that basketball was a game of runs,” Vikings coach Antonio “O’Kie” Benjamin said. “Every game that we take throughout the course of the year, we use learning tabs from it.
"What we want to do is stop that run and go on our own run.”
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Charter junior Jalen Brown once again won the Most Outstanding Player honor after scoring 23 points and going 10-for-11 shooting.
Brown saved his best efforts for the second half as he scored 12 points and made all five of his shots, including the go-ahead shot and free throw that gave the Vikings a 39-38 lead with 1:30 left.
Avoyelles Charter junior guard Jalen Brown (2) drives down the lane against JS Clark in the Division V select championship game March 8, 2024.
Charter (26-11) outscored the Bulldogs, 7-3, in the fourth quarter.
“Our emotions were running,” Brown said. “Knowing that we’re state champs again is a special moment.
"I’m speechless. The looks that I gave my players was like, ‘Oh my God, we really did it.’”
Clark (23-9) took a slim lead after going on a 9-0 run to close the third, but went cold in the fourth quarter – missing all six of its field goal attempts, including the George miss.
“I thought he had a really good look at it,” Bulldogs coach Ross Rix said. “Obviously, we would have liked a cleaner look, but with no time outs and five seconds (left), we did a good job getting to a good spot for him. I thought it was going in the hole.”
JS Clark junior Lawrence Pickney (4) is guarded by Avoyelles Charter sophomore Armonii Benjamin in the Division V select championship game March 8, 2024.
Eric Ned led the Bulldogs with 16 points, seven rebounds and four steals, but fouled out in the fourth quarter.
Even though Ned shot 5-for-6, Clark only made 30% of its shots.
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Charter challenged itself this season with matchups against finalists such as Anacoco, Madison Prep, Peabody (in an exhibition), Lakeview and Franklin, and Benjamin credited that as the reason it helped his team along the way.
“We took those games as learning lessons,” Benjamin said. “Life lessons and learning lessons. Now it allows us to be in this situation to get a win.”
-- LaMar Gafford | @SBLiveLA
