Northwood-Lena controlled the boards and the fourth quarter to beat St. Martin’s Episcopal 62-47 on Tuesday in the Division IV select semifinals at Burton Coliseum.

Northwood-Lena advances to the finals for the first time since 1991 and will face the winner at No. 2 Lincoln Preparatory School and No. 3 Crescent City on Friday at noon.

The Gators outrebounded the Saints 44-29 led by Randarius Morris’ 17 points, plus 18 points for a double-double. Omarion Layssard added 21 points and eight rebounds.

St. Martin’s cut the Gators lead down to one, 38-37, on a fastbreak by Peyton Raines with 7:03 left in the game, but the Saints had made only two field goals over the final four minutes of the game as the Gators pulled away.

“We went into halftime and figured out a different defensive scheme that we wanted to go in,” Northwood head coach Samuel Tinsley said. “We came out in the second half and really settled in. They (St. Martin’s) made a run on us but basketball is a game of runs. But basketball is a game of runs. You don’t worry about it. What you are concerned about is when the momentum completely sways and it never did. We got into that fourth quarter and we were definitely in our element.”

Matthew Weaver led St. Martin’s with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Cooper Odom added 11 points.

 

Division I select

Scotlandville 63

Huntington 43

Led by 6-11 University or New Orleans signee Dorian Booker, No. 1 Scotlandville is headed to the finals for the 14th consecutive season. 

Booker had 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Hornets (32-3) to a 63-43 win over Huntington (24-9) on Wednesday in the Division I select semifinals at the Burton Coliseum. Jamal Drewery and C’zavian Teasett added 15 and 14 points respectively.

Booker scored 10 of his points in the first quarter as the Hornets built up a 22-9 lead, but the Raiders battled back in the second quarter to cut the deficit to four points. Huntington got back-to-back 3-pointers from Kentravis Green and Christopher Carpenter in a span of 21 seconds to cut Scotlandville’s lead to 31-29 with 1:01 left in the second quarter.

Carpenter led Huntington with 14 points.

 

Division III nonselect

Port Allen 77

Patterson 75, 3 OT

Three-time defending state champion No. 1 Port Allen survived a major scare in the Division III nonselect semifinals on Wednesday, beating Patterson 77-75 in triple overtime.

Port Allen’s (28-4) tactic in the second two overtimes was holding on to the ball for long periods of time, 3:47 in the second overtime and the first three minutes of the third. Elliot McQuillan, who scored a game-high 35 points, scored the go-ahead bucket on an inbounds pass with 52 seconds left. Teammate Isaiah Howard added 30 points, including a 3-point play with 33 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 60-60. Both had double-doubles with 13 rebounds each.

Patterson (22-5) held an 11-point lead, 48-37, with 1:07 left in the third quarter on a shot by Josiah Jennings. Jennigns had 24 points and 13 rebounds, while Demond Davis had 19 points.

Port Allen will play the winner out of No. 2 French Settlement and No. 3 Winnfield on Saturday at 4 p.m.

 

Winnfield 57

French Settlement 52

French Settlement’s Maxwell Allison hit two free throws to get the Lions within three, 55-52, with 51 seconds left.

The No. 2 Lions (29-5) had a chance to tie it with 10 seconds left, but Winnfield’s Jaylon Jackson stole the ball and scored to seal the win for the Tigers.

It was the Lions’ first trip to the state tournament since winning the Class C state championship in 1966.

Draven Smith led the Lions with 20 points and eight rebounds, and Maxwell Allison added 20 points.

No. 3 Winnfield (26-4) moves on to the finals for the first time in program history and will face No. 1 and three-time defending state champ Port Allen on Saturday at 4 p.m.

The game was a defensive battle in the first quarter as the Tigers slowed down the Lions’ game plan. But French Settlement took a 6-4 lead into the second quarter.

French Settlement took its largest lead of the first half, 13-9, on a pair of free throws by Allison with 4:56 left in the second quarter and led 24-22 at the break.

French Settlement took its final lead with 2:47 left in the third quarter, 34-33, on a free throw by Boston Balfantz.

Winnfield stretched its lead to 47-38 on a 3-pointer by Jackson with 4:10 left in the game.

Jackson led Winnfield with 20 points.

Division I select

Catholic-BR ……………68

St. Thomas More …….59

No. 3 Catholic-Baton Rouge used a big third quarter to break up a 26-26 halftime tie to beat St. Thomas More 68-59 in the Division I select semifinals on Wednesday.

The Bears outscored STM 19-11 in the third quarter.

Catholic sophomore Benjamin Mcurry scored 20 points, Dennis Hebert added 18 and Stan Levy (12) and Connor Green (10) hit double-figures as well.

STM struggled behind the arc, going 1 for 14, while the Bears were 8 of 18 with Hebert and McCurry hitting three each.

Chad Jones led three STM players in double-figures with 16 points. Michael Mouton finished with 14 points and Mason Guillory added 10.