Southwood’s Evans hits buzzer beater to lift Cowboys into LHSAA D-I semifinals
There likely isn’t argument that Friday’s monumental matchup between Captain Shreve and Southwood was the best high school boys basketball game in the state on Friday night.
And Louisiana Lafayette signee Jeremiah Evans made sure neither side will forget the 40-39 Southwood victory for the remainder of their lives. With his team trailing by a deuce, the 6-foot-8 Evans took a feed from Bryson Williams just to the right of the top of the key and launched a 3-pointer as the final buzzer sounded to send the Cowboys to the LHSAA Select Division I semifinals for the first time in 22 years.
“It’s been over 20 years since we’ve been to the big dance and now we get the opportunity do it,” Southwood coach Brandon Gultery said. “We wanted to make sure we did our job of putting ourselves in history.”
The Cowboys (25-8) came out strong defensively and controlled the game holding a near double-digit lead for most of the contest. The Gators (28-6), which defeated the Cowboys twice during the regular season, made a run in the fourth quarter and took their first lead on a JD McDonald jumper with 38 seconds remaining. Southwood walked the ball up the court and called timeout with 7.7 second left.
Evans put his name forever in the annals of Southwood history with his leaping bucket that set off a wild celebration in front of a standing room only crowd.
“Coach said shoot it, so I shot it. I felt confident so I made it,” Evans said. “I was off all night but that was my shot. Now I want to win in Lake Charles.”
No. 2 Southwood advances to play No. 2 seed Liberty next week in Burton Coliseum.
Shreve coach Corey Deans saw his team struggle from the outside throughout the contest.
“We just had a rough night. They came out with more energy and played harder,” Deans said. “We were out of rhythm, foul trouble. If we had it to do over, I don’t know what we’d do. I’ll have to watch film.”
A brawl erupted postgame between fans of the opposing teams near where Gultery was being interviewed by the media. The bruhaha was quickly quelled by Shreveport police, Caddo deputies and the administrations.
“We’re not going to allow anything to spoil a Southwood boys basketball moment,” Gultery said. “The Southwood Cowboys are going to the state tournament to represent Shreveport.”
Ruston 62, Zachary 55: The Bearcats (20-9) went on the road and knocked off No. 1 Zachary (25-6) to advance to the LHSAA Non-Select Division I semifinals behind 16 points each from Joran Parker and Ahmad Hudson.
“We had a tremendous third quarter,” Ruston coach Ryan Bond said of his team’s 23-point output. “Our guys stayed together when Zachary cut into the lead in the fourth quarter.”
The Bearcats advance to play Natchitoches Central (28-7) in Burton Coliseum.
Natchitoches Central 72, Denham Springs 58: NCHS (28-7) won on the road behind 24 points from Logan Smith, 15 from Jaden Braden, 13 from Jacorien Beard (17 rebounds) and 12 from Jadell Demery with nine boards.
Coach Kolton Sepulvado’s club is making its seventh appearance in March Madness in the past 13 years.
“To endure what we did last year and win 11 games and to turn around this year and do what we have done — there’s only one way that happens,” Sepulvado said. “And that’s if the players sacrifice a lot to make it happen — and they responded to it.”
Carroll 53, Bossier 43: The Bearkats (23-13) spotted the Bulldogs(27-8) 11 points at the outset and could never recover in falling in the LHSAA Non-Select D-II quarterfinals. Javon Johnson, the only Bearcat senior, led the scoring with 18 points in his final game.
“We fought hard but just couldn’t get it done down the stretch,” Bossier coach Justin Collins said. “We got within three (38-35) in the fourth quarter but just didn’t make enough plays.”
Jimmy Watson covers Louisiana sports for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at jwatson@shreveporttimes.com and follow him on Twitter @JimmyWatson6.
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: LHSAA basketball: Southwood wins on 20-foot buzzer beater by ULL signee
